NightBitch Movie Review

“NightBitch” is based on a novel of the same name. It is a metaphor wrapped in an allegory stuck inside a fantasy. The question is posed to the main character: Do you give up your life when you deliver new life? After becoming Mother, what is left of the woman that once was? Do you meekly give in to your mundane existence, or do you become the NightBitch?

In an unnamed suburb near New York City, there lives an unhappy family. There is a wife, simply called Mother (played by Amy Adams). She has the outward appearance of a smiling, well-adjusted mom of a very young boy.

She is main care-giver and spends almost all of her days with Son (played by Arleigh and Emmett Snowden). The boy is a handful, and Mother does everything to keep up with his antics. She says she has not slept all night long for many, many months.

Mother once had a much different life, back when she was an Artist and made great works. She had an Art Installation shown at the great Museum of Modern Art. She was widely acclaimed and respected for her talent.

But now is married and takes care of this wonderful (yet infuriating) child. Things changed after she married, and now Husband (played by Scoot McNairy) is a little light in the childcare area.

Husband is working a very important job, but it takes him out-of-town for many days at a time. He believes that he a very supportive guy, with an empathetic ear and willingness to work out issues. But Mother knows that her Husband is pretty much oblivious to what she really is thinking and what she really needs. She feels she has some deep inner fire, and Husband is only there to try and blow it out.

Mother is in a major rut it seems. Mostly it is spending her day frying hash browns and taking Son to the park. She gets an idea to take him to the library. It is Baby Book Day, so maybe she will meet other moms in the same situation.

The main librarian is an older woman named Norma (played by Jessica Harper). She gets copy of a book for Mother, something to do with the inner goddess within. The book describes how some ancient woman had secret identities as animals.

There are a few other moms at the library, all with young boys about the same age as Son. Mother thinks that each of them have succumbed to the mental rot of motherhood. But the other women find Mother and her views refreshing. Miriam (played by Mary Holland) and Liz (played by Archana Rajan) and Naya (played by Ella Thomas) all start to bond with Mother. She finds that they might have a little inner spark, like she does.

Mother reads more into the book from the library, and she gets the idea that her inner voice needs to get out. She becomes fixated on dogs, since several strays have found her in the park one day. She plays a game with Son — to teach him to sleep through the entire night. She and Son act out like dogs during the day. And then he sleeps all snug in his dog bed…

Mother has some strange urges to eat more raw meat. She finds that her sense of smell has greatly improved. She is growing more hair in places that she doesn’t want to talk about. She thinks her teeth might be getting sharper and longer.

There are late-night dog howls outside. When she goes to check on it, there are dozens of stray dogs outside her front door. Most of them have killed a small animal and laid it on the porch. Hey, you had better hide your cat!

Husband comes and goes on his business trips. He is not aware of any weird nighttime animal antics that Mother might be up to. Sometimes, she will go outside at night and she swears that she becomes a dog running with the pack. Maybe she has only dreamed all of it. But why is she all covered in dirt and leaves when she wakes up? It all very strange. Or maybe it’s all just metaphorical…

Mother does more outings with Son, where she meets her new friends — Miriam, Liz and Naya. Each of them shares a story of the struggle with motherhood. Mother begins to have dreams of when she was a child.

Her own mother was warm, but in her background culture — she could not show too much emotion. She recalls that her own mother went on long outings during the night. She can remember hearing howls in the distance.

Mother still has that book from the library, and she goes to return it. But Norma says that is not a book they keep at the library. Norma also mentions about the inner fire inside, and Mother thinks that Norma might be another woman with a dual life. Mother is leading a perfectly normal life during the day. But then at night, she feels that her inner canine spirit is breaking out and running free.

After meeting with some of pretentious people that Mother used to work with at the New York City gallery, Mother decides to make a new Art Exhibit. She spends her time with Son, still going to the Baby Book Days and frying hash browns and playing at the park.

But she is also making a Modern Art masterpiece. It will reflect the pain and joy and fierce nature of Motherhood. All in a Metaphorical manner, of course. Husband doesn’t get it. But that is par for the course.

“NightBitch” has a provocative name but a tame inner spirit. It sounds like it should be full of fire and fury. However it mostly whimpers and occasionally it might growl. There are major Grand Ideas: the Mother as Goddess, the Social Facade that hides a wild Inner Beast.

But, for the most part, these are ideas that are alluded to and not brought into clear focus. It is difficult to empathize with characters with such mundane names as ‘Mother’, ‘Husband’, and ‘Son’. Now I wonder if the family cat was named ‘Cat’…

Amy Adams does a marvelous job in playing a role that is supposed to invoke a fierce rage. She is really good at acting as a person at the edge. She has a calm outer look, but you know she is fuming inside. Her wardrobe is very unflattering, with all the loose sweaters, plaid shirts and Mom Jeans. But, it is still Amy Adams – and still has a radiant smile.

Everyone else in the movie handles what they have been given to do very well. There is not a lot of meat on the character bone of ‘Husband’. But Scoot McNairy does the job with confused clarity. The twin boys playing the Son are also pretty fun to watch. There are some interesting editing choices made, and the look of the movie is pleasing.

“NightBitch” is a metaphor of a movie to make sure you know that sometimes, Motherhood can be a Bitch!