Ok so, wow! Having a child, breaking up, moving around a bit, trying to make it (mostly) solo in life over the past, decade or so I've missed A LOT of films. 'Nocturnal Animals' was pretty excellent. Truly had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish.
'Nocturnal Animals' was just a suuuuuper dense, heavy film. Dense is the word for this movie for sure. I felt like I couldn't take a breath. This movie excelled in many areas a good thriller should excel. It was well acted and extremely profound. It was original and a bit of a mind bender the more I think about it.
This film is full of action, but none of the action was 'real'. In fact, perhaps only like, fifteen percent of this film takes place in the present reality. This gets so trippy, like holy crap. Most of the movie takes place in Susan's mind as she reads her ex Edward's new book. BUT then that means this takes place in Edward's mind. BUT the book was dedicated to Susan. In a way, most of this movie takes place in two minds who have shared memories, I guess?
CRAZY.
So yeah, this movie is very thought provoking. This movie makes me never want to date anyone LOL. I think a lot of different people can see this movie in a lot of different ways. It seems that there's a ton of lessons in this movie, and I'm pretty certain many of the themes may go over my head or I may misinterpret some of the content in this movie. I guess that's art I don't know.
It seems this movie touches on male and female dating dynamics and how things change over time. Edward's book seems like a very jarring way to express how his breakup with Susan made him feel. It's probably a bit true that Edward was a bit too soft and sensitive, something I can absolutely relate too. When it comes to those nasty individuals he wrote about in his story, perhaps those events symbolize that he admits he probably should have been stronger in some way and tried to save the relationship? I also get these feelings because of Susan's abortion that clearly disturbed Edward. He also saw her with this new dude in that some moment!! I think him dying at the end may have been symbolizing the death of his sensitive more romantic self.
Susan is an interesting character. I can't put my finger on how to feel about her. I don't think she even knows how she feels about herself. She's not horrible but I feel as though she is remarkably aloof and sort of cold. I'll admit I do feel for her in some ways. She doesn't deserve to be cheated on I guess. The conversation with her mother was also quite intriguing. I can't decide who was right in the end about Edward and Susan's choices about dating/marriage.
I think this movie simply may be hyper realistic and just sad. I did find it pretty hilarious when Edward straight up stood Susan up at the end. Susan's current relationship is a joke, and her ex husband just stood her up in a way, even though I guess it wasn't a date.
But it's also unclear if Edward is happy or anything at the present time. Hmmm. Maybe I missed that. Although he may be doing decent since he wrote the book she seemed very dismissive of years prior. Although in that little argument they had, it felt like both of them were a bit ridiculous. Maybe in this day and age we should all just practice some more patience and loyalty. Hard to say I guess. Meh.
#Super interesting movie. This gets a CRISP 8.84/10 for me.
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