By Emilio Frenk.
Director: Tom Ford
Cast: Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Isla Fisher, Armie Hammer, Michael Sheen, Karl Glusman, Robert Aramayo and Laura Linney.
Rating: Excellent.
Filmmaker and Fashion Designer Tom Ford, makes his second directorial film after the critical success he received with “A Single Man” in 2009 and he does it with “Nocturnal Animals”. And again I was surprised with the style of Tom Ford.
The movie centers on Susan Morrow (Amy Adams) a wealthy gallerist from Los Angeles, that one day she receives a manuscript from her ex husband Edward Sheffield (Jake Gyllenhaal) titled “Nocturnal Animals”.
She begins to read the novel where tells the story of Tony Hastings (Jake Gyllenhaal) who suffers an encounter with Ray Marcus (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) who with his friends Lou (Kart Glusman) and Turk (Robert Aramayo) in the highway at nightthe three of them kidnap Tony’s wife and daughter which will eventually lead them to their rape and murder.
When Susan begins to read the novel she also remembers her relationship with Edward and the way she hurted him.
Now that she finishes reading the book she begins to interpret the novel as a threat and a symbolic revenge tale.
Tom Ford does it again and he gets deeper and deeper to the minds of the main characters of the film, both Susan and Edward.
The narrative that he applied with “Nocturnal Animals” works at all levels and Ford plays really well with the point of view of Susan while she is reading the transcript and when she is remembering the relantionship she had with Edward.
Again the use offlashbacks in this type of films is totally justified and it does work at all levels.
The only part I don’t think was necessary was the inclussion of Laura Linney’s character who plays Adam’s mother in the film. Linney is a fantastic actress but since we saw in one of the flashbacks where Adam’s character mentions the backstory it wasn’t required.
Other than that the film is brilliantly crafted and Ford directed remarkable performances of all the cast.
Michael Shannon is one of the best performances I’ve seenand he is fantastic and terryfying as playing the cop who is in the case of Tony’s murdered family.
The film has one of the most unexpected and surprising endings I’ve seen in a while and does work.
Tom Ford again delivers and I am very impressed with his work and the two movies his has done in his career are a blessing to see.
“Nocturnal Animals” not only is fantastic drama film but it’s a frightning thriller and is one of the years best.
I give it a huge recommendation and I hope we can see more movies from Tom Ford in the future.