Among the greater feminist statements in 2024 was the cultish and non-PC titled Nightbitch. For its themes of motherhood and the resentment espoused therein, Nightbitch isn’t going to appeal to many owners of Y-chromosome, especially in our current political atmosphere. Yet, the question here isn’t who relates, but how strongly those who relate will relate. I don’t expect this film to become a Caddyshack for the ovary set, but stranger things have happened.
Mother (Amy Adams) is exactly that, a mother. Motherhood hasn’t been the promise of joy she expected. In fact, she finds it tedious, alienating, and exhausting. It’s not even that her toddler is a pain. He’s not. We’ve all met worse kids. In this case, however, motherhood is a tether, a leash, a prison sentence.
It doesn’t help that Mother has no stomach for her peers. She can’t stand the artificial construct of Gymboree and playdates, and her feeling of isolation and dread is only exacerbated when her kid says, “fuck” aloud in a group setting. She has fantasies about domination and slapping her feckless and frequently absent husband around. She’s given up her career for this. She is “stuck in a prison of my own creation.”
Oh, and she’s also turning into some sort of animal.
Yes, you read that right. She’s started growing -for lack of a better word- fur. And she seems to be losing track of herself only to wake up grubby or bloody, like a morning-after werewolf.
This film could only have been written and directed by a woman with a ton of deadbeat 
husband experience. I’m guessing Marielle Heller doesn’t have the most satisfying homelife one would hope. And there’s something charming about how down-to-earth Amy Adams looks in this film. The days of “Giselle” have passed; she’s doughy and distraught and constantly in need of better sleep. But that’s motherhood and being a dick about wanting your wife to return to whatever dumbass supermodel fantasy shape you had in mind isn’t helping. Most of us aren’t exactly aging like Brad Pitt, either, ya know? I truly respect Ms. Adams for playing the part as required, with a droopy face and random unseemly discharges; you know a film named “Nightbitch” ain’t winning any Oscars, and yet you gave it exactly what it required. Brava!
We are told that all women want to be mothers, so we discount how alienating and tiresome motherhood can be. “You wanted this, didn’t you? so stop complaining!” is a frequent retort. Well, yeah, but personally, I wanted to quarterback the Oakland Raiders, too, and, yet, if I got sacked seven times and threw a pick-6 every Sunday, well, I might re-think my dreams and desires. Nightbitch is an exploration of the downside of motherhood; yet, it’s also an anthem, an awakening, an empowerment of mothers. For a throwaway comedy horror, it’s a surprisingly important film. You don’t have to get it, but you might have to accept it.
A woman on a motherly slog
Finds herself turning into a dog
If men had their way
This scene wouldn’t play
But it gets a thumbs up on this blog
Rated R, 99 Minutes
Director: Marielle Heller
Writer: Marielle Heller, Rachel Yoder
Genre: Motherhood
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Mothers
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Misogynists
