Watching the trailer for Nightbitch and the early promotion for the film, there was nothing about the movie that appealed to me. But after watching the movie, it’s probably one of the films that has stuck with me the longest after watching it this year. Named after the novel by Rachel Yoder of the same name, the movie follows a stay-at-home mother as she battles with her loss of identity and self through the trials of motherhood, her relationship, and career change.
The physical transformation the woman experiences seems to be a bit extreme and could even be seen as an illusion of her mind, the feelings she expresses are something almost tangible for viewers. Yes, a lot of her emotions are narrated instead of acted out, because her role as a stay-at-home mother is something that society tells us all is the ultimate privilege. The flipping between her actual struggles, the load put on her, and the subjugation of desires and career because of her new role as Mother, while her husband lives his life is real and understandable. The complex balance of life, desire, individuality, societal pressures, and expectations is real, and hard to handle every day. The roles that women are forced to take, and the expectation that they do it all without ever wavering isn’t realistic, especially in today’s society without a support network for most families.
Overall, the movie hits a lot of emotions and moments in a woman’s life (child-free or not) that are completely relatable. It’s that visceral feeling we’ve all had probably countless times, and the societal push to suppress it and us. The only negative thing that movie could probably have done better is explain more about her past, and the ties to her mother’s own transformation. It hints at a more conservative past, and her mom dealing with the same issues. But the connection between mother and daughter only seems surface level, tentative at best. If this had been examined more, the ties between women in the past and these timeless feelings through the generations could been more tenable.
Nightbitch, unfortunately, may have a couple of things going against it in theaters. The name, despite being named after the novel of the same name is offputting to start. Compound that with the trailers that don’t do the film justice, it’s going to probably have a bit of an uphill battle for a lot of audience members. While the movie does resonate with audiences, especially women, its success is really going to depend on if the audiences show up to see the movie or not.
Nightbitch is in theaters everywhere this weekend.
Overall Rating
About Nightbitch
An artist who pauses her career to be a stay-at-home mum seeks a new chapter in her life and encounters just that, when her nightly routine takes a surreal turn and her maternal instincts begin to manifest in canine form.