Motherhood is a bitch in Nightbitch (2024) — which is why Amy Adams is being rightfully recognized for taking on the demanding titular role. Her unflinching and unglamorous performance was honored at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival and at the Mill Valley Film Festival. Last week, she nabbed an Indie Spirit nomination for Best Lead alongside June Squibb for Thelma (2024). And today, Adams received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy.
Nighbitch is adapted from Rachel Yoder’s same-named novel by director Marielle Heller, who received the Visionary Award at the Chicago International Film Festival this year. While on the Red Carpet, Heller told Rebellious Magazine that no animals were harmed during the shoot, confessing she’s a cat person even though Nightbitch is mostly about canines and humans — including a toddler played by twins Arleigh and Emmett Snowden. Similarly, the movie’s pet kitty is played by real life littermates.
In a Rebellious exclusive, Heller admits working with animals and children “was really difficult and really wonderful. In general, I don’t really have any ad-libbing on set,” says the filmmaker, “but the boys are never going to do it exactly as planned so there was spontaneity. The truth of the matter is I think that the kids and the dogs grounded us and made us really present.”
Like Another Happy Day (2023), Nightbitch chronicles the challenges of a former artist, now stay-at-home mom (Adams), whose husband (Scoot McNairy) doesn’t have to abandon his work and recreation to be a parent like his wife must. In fact, when he asks where the fun woman he married is, his better half replies, “She died in childbirth.”
To an extent, the same is true for her newfound friends (Zoë Chao, Mary Holland, Archana Rajan) and mentor (Jessica Harper) who have replaced her pretentious circle from grad school.
Although Nightbitch features fantastical elements, it’s more real than surreal as it examines the messy parts of motherhood. Contrary to depictions of delicate femininity, the primal act of giving birth is literally labor intensive, visceral and bloody. And the process of raising a child is dirty business. Nevertheless, selfless mothers find the strength and power to do it all over again.
The repetition of daily duties, imaginary reactions and the passing of time are realized throughout the film with clever cuts by editor Anne McCabe, who worked on Heller’s past films Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018) and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019).
Yet it’s Adams who steals the show with her candid and layered portrayal of a sleep-deprived mother seemingly transforming into a wild dog. Whether the 6-time (Junebug, Doubt, The Fighter, The Master, American Hustle, Vice) Academy Award-nominated actress can fetch another deserved Oscar nomination on Jan. 17 — in between the Golden Globes telecast on CBS (Jan. 5) and the streamed Spirit Awards ceremony (Feb. 22) — remains to be seen.
For now, local moviegoers can catch Nightbitch at AMC River East 21, AMC Village Crossing 18, and Landmark’s Century Centre Cinema.