Nighbitch Review: Amy Adams Turns Into A Dog In This Toothless Satire Of Motherhood

"Nightbitch" has a lot going for it, at least in theory. For one thing, the film hails from director Marielle Heller, the filmmaker behind wonderful movies like "The Diary of a Teenage Girl," "Can You Ever Forgive Me?" (my personal favorite of her films so far), and "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood." On top of that, it stars Amy Adams, one of the best performers working today — an actor able to portray both a bubbly Disney princess in "Enchanted" and a solemn, haunted linguist in "Arrival" (a performance that probably should've finally netted her an Oscar, even though she somehow wasn't even nominated). Then you have the fact that the movie is called "Nightbitch." What a wonderful title! Throw in some genuine female body horror (a running theme this year, from "The Substance" to "Smile 2"), and you've got yourself a stew, baby!

Sadly, all of these promising details crumble to dust once you sit down and watch the film, which is clumsy, awkward, and saddled with some of the worst voice over narration in recent memory. I'm not a member of the Robert McKee anti-voice over brigade; I think voice over narration can be great when employed correctly. But in "Nightbitch," Adams is forced to spell out seemingly everything happening on screen with purple prose that thuds when it should float.

Adapted from the novel by Rachel Yoder (and bearing a striking similarity to the 2017 dark comedy "B*tch"), "Nightbitch" is a dark satire of motherhood and all the horrors that come with it. The main character, a nameless woman listed as Mother in the credits, has given up her career as an artist to stay home and raise her son (played by Arleigh and Emmett Snowden). And while she loves her cute kid, she also feels lost and overwhelmed by her new normal, all while her husband (Scoot McNairy) leaves her for the day to head to work. And even when her husband is home, he's not much help — in one of the more amusing scenes, McNairy's character offers to give the kid a bath so Adams' Mother can rest, only to then ask her to retrieve a million different little items needed to make sure bathtime goes just right. And oh yeah, on top of all that, she's turning into a literal dog. 

One fine day, the Mother's toddler son points that mommy is suddenly "fuzzy," with small, fine hairs growing on the small of her back. Adams' character assumes this is just one of those quirks due to hormones or aging and doesn't think much of it. But soon, other changes present themselves: the Mother finds herself rooting in the dirt, getting down on all fours, and hungering for raw meat. And that's not all: she gets her son in on the action, too, going so far as to buy him a little dog bed to sleep in. The Husband character is slightly perturbed by this, but the Mother counters that when she sets out the dog bed, their child actually curls up and calms down, rather than running around like a destructive menace.

Eventually, Adams becomes a full-fledged dog, with a tail and everything, running wild at night with other dogs (are they strays? Other women who've transformed? Who knows!). Or does she? The film sure shows her transforming into a canine, but there's enough room here to read things in a metaphorical way. No matter what's going on, it's clear that something is changing within this suburban mom, who feels cut off from the life she once knew before she had a child. That's not to say she's regretting motherhood; it's more that she wants to find a way to get back to herself while also grappling with the existence of being a mom, if such a thing is even possible. Eventually, she makes friends with other mothers in a dreaded library children's reading group, and they form a pack, if you will — a pack that realizes that being a mom doesn't mean they have to throw their own sense of self away. 

I'm not a mother (and I have no interest in ever having kids), so I obviously can't speak to the experience of being a parent. But I recognize the struggles and pitfalls that come with parenthood, and there's something interesting about bundling them into a body-horror comedy. And yet, "Nightbitch" feels strangely dated and out of touch; the type of empowerment fantasy that would've played better had it come out sometime in the 1990s. It doesn't help that Adams is saddled with clumsy dialogue (and that dreadful narration), like when she tells her fellow mothers, "Do you ever think about how we're gods? We create life!" This isn't exactly a profound realization, and feels trite. And if that's not bad enough, there's even a moment where the Husband says to the Mother, "You were a real b*tch last night!" To which Adams is forced to reply, "Yeah, I was. A nightbitch." Woof. 

"Nightbitch" does have one thing going for it: Amy Adams. After "Arrival," Adams fell into a kind of a cinematic rut, appearing in dreck like "Hillbilly Elegy," "The Woman in the Window," and "Dear Evan Hansen." Her last starring role was in 2022's seemingly forgotten "Enchanted" sequel "Disenchanted," which went straight to Disney+. As such, she's been absent from the screen for a while, so having her back and leading a film is a reason to take notice. And indeed, Adams is pretty damn wonderful here, throwing herself into the role and rising above that weak narration. 

Adams' performance is selfless and distinct, so much so that we completely buy her as a woman grappling with a type of canine lycanthropy. She also perfectly sells her character's growing frustration with her monotonous, montage-heavy life while also making us understand that her character loves being a mom. Adams is complemented by the always-dependable McNairy, who does good work playing a guy who is pretty clueless, but not in a cruel way. McNairy's Husband thinks he's doing the best he can, and rightly points out that he can't exactly read his wife's mind and know how she's feeling. At the same time, there are obvious signs of turmoil, and the Husband remains oblivious. He's not a villain, nor is he cruel. He's simply stuck in his own little world, as all of us are.

As "Nighbitch" unfolded, I kept waiting for it to find its footing. While there are occasional bright spots and moments of genuine humor (one scene is set to "Weird Al" Yankovic's Devo-esque "Dare to Be Stupid," which feels like a genuinely inspired choice), the film unfortunately struggles to match its fun concept. It also goes down several paths that muck up the narrative in needless ways (at one point, Adams, in dog form, kills the family cat — and this slaughter is played off for laughs later, which seems pointlessly cruel). To add insult to injury, the film doesn't seem to really know what it wants to be. Is it a prestige picture featuring one of our finest actors, or a gnarly B-movie? Sure, it can be both, but one can't help but think that if it had just tipped firmly into either of those directions instead of straddling the line, "Nightbitch" would succeed instead of stumbling. Still, Adams alone might make this worth a watch, just because it's always a treat to watch her worrk. Let's just hope she returns to better things after this, and soon. 

/Film Rating: 5 out of 10

"Nighbitch" opens in theaters on December 6, 2024.