Nocturnal Animals (2016), R, ★★★1/2

Amy Adams being seductively hypnotic.

I have a main issue going into this review: I cannot make a clear opening paragraph describing my feelings for this movie and I have to say that this was one of the most unique and hypnotic films of the year that parallels a dark story with a distinctive revelation. This is sort of a novelistic cat-and-mouse game between an ex-couple that is cerebral and fun that you would want to watch this movie again until it is over. There is only one flaw that took me out of the movie that could have been corrected to make it more natural. If the movie had more structural flow, the movie would have been great. But, still, it is a very good experience watching this film.

Susan (Amy Adams) is an art dealer that arrives at her multimillion-dollar home and she is told by one of her staff that a package has arrived at the door. It is a manuscript of a new book from her ex-husband, Edward Sheffield (Jake Gyllenhaal). A letter is also attached saying that Edward wants to meet up with Susan for coffee in a week. The book is titled "Nocturnal Animals" and Susan wants to be alone at her estate to read the book over the weekend. She has somewhat of an unstable marriage with her current husband (Armie Hammer) who could not get to her art show.

Susan begins to read the book as it is dedicated to her. Tony Hastings (also portrayed by Gyllenhaal) is with his wife, Laura (Isla Fisher) and his teenaged daughter, India (Ellie Bamber) going on a haunting road trip in West Texas. But, while on the road, Tony engages with two cars in a little game as one car hits them, knocking them over the road. Tony has no choice but to engage the other driver in the other car now as a redneck (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) comes out as terrifying and charming simultaneously. After a somewhat polite and confusing confrontation with the redneck and his gang, Tony's family is driven off with a few rednecks leaving Tony hanging with a redneck telling him to drive.

Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Shannon. 

This is a poetic film that is out of the book of David Lynch's film noir movies such as Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart and Mulholland Drive. And, he is a director that I am not that fond of but I particularly loved Blue Velvet and liked Mulholland Drive. But, my point is that there are three stories going on that interconnect with the main story: Susan's present story, the novel and the flashback with Susan and Edward's young relationship and marriage. All three are similarly sour but realistically ghostly because there is malevolence and intoxication in each story that you don't feel much empathy towards the characters in each act except for one in this entire film who is Edward. But, is he truly the sole empathetic character of the film? Even though there is one flaw in its filmmaking, I find that there are no characters that have any rooting interest or have any background that is at stake. But, there is one revelation in the film that is disturbing but does make sense as to how it all connects in the end.

Amy Adams gives another strong performance this year and I would not mind if she gets nominated for Best Actress for this movie or Arrival because those two performances are powerful, yes, but totally different in terms of how this person is titled. In Arrival, she is a confident linguist and mother who does not seem to give up to communicate with the aliens. In this movie, she is a soulless art curator who has an uneven marriage but somehow has an unforgivable background. Jake Gyllenhaal delivers another solid performance in this. But, the two supporting performances are the winners: Michael Shannon, who delivers another magnificent performance as a police officer and surprisingly, Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the lead redneck who is unrecognizable.

Director Tom Ford, who is also a fashion designer, has a sharp eye for style but also unease and flair for the camerawork, noticeably, in one sequence in which Gyllenhaal and his family is stopped by the rednecks on the road and how it is crafted, it is chilling and one of the most haunting scenes of the year both stylistically and storytelling-wise. Even though the movie is real clever in its narrative, the editing gets a bit clunky throughout the movie where it jolts down to one story after another especially when the movie introduces the flashback with Jake Gyllenhaal and Amy Adams as a couple. The artistic genius lies underneath the narrative and also Ford's direction that is scintillating but a lack of rooting interest and clunky editing prevented me not to acknowledge it as a masterclass of stylish and poetic storytelling. However, it is executed with precision and strong performances that it may be Tom Ford's most bold composition to date. He took a risk with a challenging script and delivered.

***1/2