Starring: Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Isla Fisher, Armie Hammer, Laura Linney, Jena Malone, Michael Sheen
OUR RATING: ★★★☆☆
Story: Thriller written and directed by Tom Ford. A “story inside a story”, Nocturnal Animals (2016) follows Susan Morrow (Amy Adams), an art gallery owner disturbed by her ex-husband, Edward’s (Jake Gyllenhaal) latest novel, “Nocturnal Animals”. The novel’s narrative focuses on Tony Hastings (also played by Gyllenhaal), his wife Laura (Isla Fischer), and daughter India (Ellie Bamber), whose family vacation in West Texas turns violent when they encounter a gang led by Ray Marcus (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). As Susan reads, she interprets the novel as a veiled threat and sees parallels between its story and her own past, viewing it as symbolic revenge.
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'When you love someone, you work it out. You don't just throw it away. You have to be careful with it, you might never get it again.' - Edward Sheffield (Nocturnal Animals) Share on X
Susan Morrow: What right do I have to not be happy? I have everything. I feel ungrateful not to be happy.
Alessia: As much right as anyone, Susan, as much right as anyone, because it’s all relative. You’re just awfully hard on yourself.
Alessia: Having a gay husband is not such a bad thing, you know? We’re best friends. We love each other completely. I’m certainly the only woman in his life. And that lasts longer than lust, doesn’t it? It’s forever, really.
Susan Morrow: Hutton and I don’t have that.
Alessia: Did you ever?
Susan Morrow: I think we just want different things, or I want different things.
Alessia: Do you still love him?
Carlos: No one really likes what they do.
Susan Morrow: Then why do we do it?
Carlos: Because we’re driven. Maybe a bit insecure.
'We get into things when we're young and because we think they mean something.' - Carlos (Nocturnal Animals) Share on X
Carlos: Oh, Susan, enjoy the absurdity of our world. It’s a lot less painful. Believe me, our world is a lot less painful than the real world.
Ray Marcus: [ from Edward’s novel, after being forced off the road] Let’s exchange information.
Tony Hastings: [to Laura] Get it out of the glove compartment.
Ray Marcus: Okay. I’m a Gemini. My favorite color’s pale pink. I like long walks and kittens.
Edward Sheffield: You know that you were my first crush when we were at Hastings? I only spent so much time around your brother just to be around you.
Susan Morrow: Well, you were his first crush.
Edward Sheffield: Well, I had no idea Cooper was gay.
Susan Morrow: You know, I don’t think he knew back then, but he was obsessed with you.
Edward Sheffield: Wow.
Susan Morrow: Yeah. If I hadn’t caught you staring at me so much, I would have thought you were sleeping with him.
Susan Morrow: [referring to Cooper] You should call him. He would like that. My parents have basically disowned him. They’re not really talking anymore.
Edward Sheffield: Why?
Susan Morrow: Why? Are you serious? Well, you know my parents, right? They’re religious, conservative, sexist, racist, Republican, materialistic, narcissistic, racist. I could keep going.
Edward Sheffield: I’m just wondering what you really think, Susan.
Susan Morrow: [referring to her parents] They just see us as a reflection of themselves, so they can’t accept Cooper for who he is. I’m not sure how I’m going to fare.
Edward Sheffield: Aren’t you being a little hard on them?
Susan Morrow: No. They have an antiquated idea of how I should live my life. Especially my mother.
Edward Sheffield: Why did you give up on becoming an artist?
Susan Morrow: Because I’m too cynical to be an artist. I think that to be really, really good, you have to come from someplace inside that I’m just not sure I have.
Edward Sheffield: You underestimate yourself. Do you know that?
Susan Morrow: Edward, will you come home with me?
Edward Sheffield: Wow, that’s a bit forward.
Susan Morrow: Yeah.
Edward Sheffield: It’s not what I’d expect from a Texas debutante.
Susan Morrow: Well, you know all debutantes are sluts, so. And you were my first crush too.
Edward Sheffield: I know.
Susan Morrow: I’m going to marry Edward. That’s where this is going to go.
Anne Sutton: This is a ridiculous conversation. You’re too young to get married.
Susan Morrow: Really? Mom, last summer you tried to convince me that I had to marry Bass.
Anne Sutton: That is different. Bass is your equal.
Anne Sutton: What I meant is that you are very strong-willed, and Edward, as sweet as he is, he’s too weak for you.
Susan Morrow: Weak is not a word that I would use to describe Edward. Sensitive is a word that I would use, which isn’t a word I would use to describe anyone else in this family, except maybe Cooper.
Anne Sutton: Come on, Susan. I know you think that we don’t care about the same things, but you’re wrong. In a few years, all these bourgeois things, as you so like to call them, are going to be very important to you, and Edward’s not going to be able to give them to you. He has no money, he’s not driven, he’s not ambitious. And I can promise you, if you marry Edward, your father’s not going to give them to you either.
Susan Morrow: [referring to Edward] You’re right. He’s not driven the way that you would like him to be. But he is strong. He’s stronger than I am in a lot of ways. He just has a different kind of strength is all.
Anne Sutton: “A different kind of strength.” And what kind of strength is that?
Susan Morrow: He has the strength to believe in himself and believe in me.
Anne Sutton: Susan, keep seeing him if you have to, live with him. I don’t care. But do not marry him. I understand what you see in Edward, I get it.
Anne Sutton: No, wait. I do.
Susan Morrow: No, you don’t.
Anne Sutton: [to Susan] He is a romantic. But he is also very fragile. I saw that when his father died. Don’t do this. You’ll regret it. And you’ll only hurt Edward in the end.
'The things you love about him now are the things you'll hate in a few years.' - Anne Sutton (Nocturnal Animals) Share on X
Susan Morrow: You’re wrong. You and I are nothing alike.
Anne Sutton: Really? Just wait. We all eventually turn into our mothers.
Susan Morrow: I never sleep. My ex-husband used to call me a nocturnal animal.
Alex: What ex-husband? I didn’t know you had an ex-husband. Since when?
Susan Morrow: A couple of years in graduate school.
Susan Morrow: [referring to Edwarsd] It’s weird, I’ve been thinking about him a lot lately. And then recently he sent me this book that he’s written. And it’s violent, and it’s sad, and he titled it Nocturnal Animals. And he dedicated it to me.
Susan Morrow: [referring to Edward] I loved him. He was a writer, and I didn’t have faith in him. I panicked and I did something horrible to him. Something unforgivable, really.
Alex: You left him?
Susan Morrow: I left him. I left him in a brutal way, for the handsome and dashing Hutton.
Alex: Who is very handsome and dashing.
Susan Morrow: And dashing. Yes.
Susan Morrow: [to Alex] Do you ever feel like your life has turned into something you never intended? No. Of course not. You just started living your life.
Tony Hastings: [from Edward’s novel, to Ray] I want to know what they said. I want to know what my wife said and I want to know what my daughter said. I want to know how you killed them, and I want to know if they knew it was happening to them. I want to know what they felt! I want to know if they hurt! Answer me! Answer me!
Bobby Andes: I got lung cancer. It’s metastasized.
Tony Hastings: But you smoke all the time.
Bobby Andes: Yeah, well, that’s how it works. What’s the point in quitting now, I’ll be dead in a year?
Tony Hastings: What are we going to do?
Bobby Andes: It’s a question of how serious you are about seeing justice done. You get me?
Susan Morrow: Why are you so driven to write?
Edward Sheffield: I guess it’s a way of keeping things alive. You know, saving things that will eventually die. And if I write it down, then it’ll last forever.
'Sometimes maybe it's not such a good idea to change things quite so much.' - Susan Morrow (Nocturnal Animals) Share on X
Edward Sheffield: Nobody writes about anything but themselves.
Susan Morrow: We’re not right for each other.
Edward Sheffield: We are perfect for each other.
Susan Morrow: No. We’re not perfect for each other, Edward. We may be perfect for each other if we didn’t live in the real world. But I live in the real world, and I need a life that is more structured. I need a future that is more structured.
Susan Morrow: I want to be the person that you want me to be, but I just can’t.
Edward Sheffield: You are. You are.
Susan Morrow: I can’t be that.
Susan Morrow: I really wanted to be this person that you thought I was. I really did. But I’m just not that person. I’m cynical. I’m pragmatic.
Edward Sheffield: No, look…
Susan Morrow: No, I am. I’m a realist.
Edward Sheffield: You’re afraid.
Susan Morrow: No, I’m not afraid.
Edward Sheffield: We’ve been through this so many times before.
Susan Morrow: I’m not scared, Edward. I’m not scared.
Edward Sheffield: Alright.
Susan Morrow: I’m unhappy. I’m just really, really unhappy.
Susan Morrow: You’re so, you really are so wonderful, and you’re just so sensitive, and romantic, and…
Edward Sheffield: Weak.
Susan Morrow: What?
Susan Morrow: I did not call you weak.
Edward Sheffield: You’ve said it before, so why don’t you say it again? Weak.
Susan Morrow: I did not say you were weak. I did not say you were weak.
Susan Morrow: I can’t do this with you anymore, Edward. I just can’t keep doing this.
Edward Sheffield: Susan. You can’t just walk away from things all the time.
Bobby Andes: [from Edward’s novel, after abducting Ray and Lou] Now, do you two have any last words you want to say to each other? Huh? I think what we should do, Tony, is we should just kill them right now. It’s going to be rough for them out there, not knowing how it’s going to come. Maybe Ray will get killed for resisting arrest, huh?
Susan Morrow: I’m going to live to regret this. I regret it now. You know, I’m Catholic. I don’t even believe in abortions.
Hutton Morrow: I’m so sorry. I feel so useless.
Susan Morrow: You’re anything but useless. You always know exactly what to do. Thank you. I just don’t think I’m ever going to be able to look at Edward again after what I did to his child.
Hutton Morrow: He’ll never find out.
Susan Morrow: What did I do? What did I do?
Hutton Morrow: I promise it’ll be okay. I’ll make it okay.
Susan Morrow: [looks up and sees Edwards standing in the rain watching them] Oh, my God. No. Edward.
Tony Hastings: [from Edward’s novel, after killing Lou and Ray gets away] I’m glad that you shot him! I’m f***ing glad that he’s dead! I should have stopped it! I should have protected them. I should have seen it coming. I should have stopped it!
Tony Hastings: I should have stopped it, Bobby.
Bobby Andes: Look at me. You’re a good man. You’re a good man.
Tony Hastings: Are you in trouble for all this?
Bobby Andes: Hell, I don’t know. I don’t really give a s**t. I’m dying, remember?
Ray Marcus: Listen, man, why does a nice guy like you hang out with a guy like Andes who kills people?
Tony Hastings: You kill people.
Ray Marcus: They had it coming to them, your f***ing wife and that kid. But you, you got me wrong, it was an accident.
Tony Hastings: It was an accident?
Ray Marcus: I got a certain pride in how people talk to me. There are certain things I don’t put up with. When someone accuses me of something, that’s a f***ing insult. It gives me the right.
Tony Hastings: Nobody gets away with what you did to us. Nobody. Nobody.
Ray Marcus: They don’t?
Ray Marcus: You should f***ing kill me. Man, you know nothing. It’s fun to kill people. You of all people should try it sometime.
Tony Hastings: Fun? It’s fun to kill people? Did you have fun killing my wife and daughter?
Ray Marcus: [as Tony has him at gunpoin] You’re too weak. Too f***ing weak, you know. You’re too weak to do anything about it.
Ray Marcus: [suddenly Tony shoots him twice, fatally wounding him] Son of a b**ch!
[suddenly Ray strikes Tony with an iron bar, Tony awakens blinded, discovers Ray dead, and accidentally shoots himself in the stomach]