Nocturnal Animals

Critics Consensus

Well-acted and lovely to look at, Nocturnal Animals further underscores writer-director Tom Ford's distinctive visual and narrative skill.

74%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 296

73%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 30,149

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Movie Info

A successful Los Angeles art-gallery owner's idyllic life is marred by the constant traveling of her handsome second husband. While he is away, she is shaken by the arrival of a manuscript written by her first husband, who she has not seen in years. The manuscript tells the story of a teacher who finds a trip with his family turning into a nightmare. As Susan reads the book, it forces her to examine her past and confront some dark truths.
  • Rating:
    R (Language|Graphic Nudity|Menace|Violence)
  • Genre:
    drama, crime, mystery and thriller
  • Original Language:
    English
  • Director:
    Tom Ford
  • Producer:
    Tom Ford, Robert Salerno
  • Writer:
    Tom Ford
  • Release Date (Theaters):
     wide
  • Release Date (Streaming):
  • Box Office (Gross USA):
    $10.4M
  • Runtime:
  • Production Co:
    Focus Features, Artina Films, Fade to Black Productions
  • Sound Mix:
    Dolby Digital

Cast & Crew

Amy Adams
Susan Morrow
Jake Gyllenhaal
Tony Hastings, Edward Sheffield
Michael Shannon
Bobby Andes
Aaron Taylor-Johnson
Ray Marcus
Isla Fisher
Laura Hastings
Armie Hammer
Hutton Morrow
Ellie Bamber
India Hastings
Laura Linney
Anne Sutton
Andrea Riseborough
Alessia
Michael Sheen
Carlos
Tom Ford
Director
Tom Ford
Screenwriter
Tom Ford
Producer
Robert Salerno
Producer
Seamus McGarvey
Cinematographer
Joan Sobel
Film Editor
Abel Korzeniowski
Original Music
Shane Valentino
Production Design
Arianne Phillips
Costume Designer
Francine Maisler
Casting
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News & Interviews for Nocturnal Animals

Las Vegas Film Critics: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Takes 5 Awards
Conversations with the 2017 Oscar Nominees
On DVD This Week: Manchester by the Sea, Hacksaw Ridge, Nocturnal Animals, and More
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Critic Reviews for Nocturnal Animals

All Critics (296) | Top Critics (44) | Fresh (219) | Rotten (77)

View All Critic Reviews (296)

Audience Reviews for Nocturnal Animals

  • Sep 22, 2017
    https://cinephilecrocodile.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/nocturnal-animals-dir-ford-2016-imsure.html
    Anthony L Super Reviewer
  • Jul 24, 2017
    Ford is clearly aiming for some kind of Cormac McCarthy/David Lynch mashup but he ends up with a pretentious, yet somehow also trashy, mess.
    Alec B Super Reviewer
  • Jul 20, 2017
    A very different Animal from a very distinctive visionary, this handsome beast of a film noir thriller is twisty more than tidy but the stirring performances and intoxicating tale dare you to look away. And you won't want to. In this R-rated thriller, a wealthy art gallery owner (Amy Adams) receives a draft of her ex-husband's (Jake Gyllenhaal) gritty crime manuscript and finds herself unable to put it down as she gets wrapped up in the narrative. Featuring a story within a story, one darker than the last, Nocturnal Animals is many things. Avant-garde like the artwork it's main character, Susan, sells. Steeped in darkness like the latter half of the title suggests. A challenging 'read' like the manuscript written by Susan's ex, Tony. Stylish like the designer-turned-screenwriter who also directed it. The term film noir gets tossed around a lot in movie reviewing, making it almost a catch-all for any flick that has a night scene and a criminal element. In fact, this style came about in post-World War II America and reflected the general pessimism and uncertainty permeating a great deal of the populace. Heavily influenced by the German expressionists (themselves no strangers to post-war cynicism), the style presented a shadowy world rife with fatalism and dread. So too does Nocturnal Animals, putting forth all-but-soulless Angelinos living in a pallid disconnected post-9/11 and banking crisis world where the only thing grimmer is a violent flight of fiction. The most menacing element for Susan isn't how realistic the harrowing experience at the center of the novel seems, however, but if it's an allegory for something cruel that she did to Tony. Indeed, Nocturnal Animals isn't so much as a Who-Done-It? as a Did-It-Happen-At-All? And that's the brilliance of this unique thriller which, frustratingly, isn't for all tastes. Having proven himself a sleek, and skillful storyteller with A Single Man, Tom Ford could have gone more mainstream for his follow-up (for most, the sophomore slump is a true concern). Instead, he smartly puts his gifts for atmosphere and casting to expert use, unraveling Austin Wright's novel as a fetching puzzle box that keeps puzzling you a week later. Adams, Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Isla Fisher all blend seamlessly into the dark palette of Ford's noirish frame, their characters sympathetic in their attempt to find a glimmer of love and/or redemption in a perpetually Nocturnal world. Because it challenges and makes you think, it's not for everybody. But it damn well should be. To Sum it Up: Bleak Beauty
    Jeff B Super Reviewer
  • Jun 23, 2017
    Meticulously crafted relationship / revenge drama with a very unusual narrative. Beautifully filmed, well acted and flawlessly directed the movie won't leave anyone indifferent, offering plenty of food for thought. Although the ending does not answer all questions the regular viewer might expect from his viewing experience, you still gotta admire the attempt to do something different here.
    Jens S Super Reviewer
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