Nocturnal Animals

— “Nocturnal Animals” is a more ambitious story than Tom Ford’s earlier, wonderful film “A Single Man”, but you can recognize Ford’s hand from the beautiful photography and design. In a way, it’s three stories that seem to overlap in time and fact so it’s purposely a little hard to keep track of whether you’re seeing the current day Susan (Amy Adams) with husband Hutton (Armie Hammer) living the wealthy but unsatisfied life in L.A.; fictionalized Laura (Amy Adams) and Laura’s husband Tony (Jake Gyllanhaal) as depicted in the novel recently written by Susan’s first husband, Edward (Jake Gyllanhaal) and dedicated to her; or Edward and Susan’s real, past life. It has the feeling that you’re watching the director watch the action so you feel a little removed from the actors but I like that. It’s also helpful since parts of the film are pretty dark and each story’s characters are littered with psychological issues and some disturbing images, including the first, odd scene with a group of obese and aging naked women dancing on platforms as part of an art opening. Everything about it is sharp and exacting which sometimes leads to the technique taking center stage, but mostly it’s a thriller of sorts. It’s still creeping into my thoughts a day later and I know I’ve seen a good but unsettling story of either revenge or redemption, and maybe both.

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[2016. 116 minutes. Directed by Tom Ford. Starring Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon, Aaron Tyalor-Johnson, and Armie Hammer.]
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/nocturnal-animals-2016