Nightbitch
ナイトビッチ
Storyline
The whole story, ending included.
A stay-at-home mother begins turning into a dog at night; the most honest film about postpartum rage.
The woman at the centre of Nightbitch is never named; the credits call her Mother. She was an artist until her son was born, and now, with her husband away on work trips most of the week, she looks after the two-year-old almost alone in a quiet suburban house. She resents the cheerful mothers she is expected to befriend, answers politely, and imagines lashing out. When she runs into an old friend with a flourishing career, she swallows her rage and says the expected things. Her husband, home at weekends, tells her he envies her.
Then her body starts to change. Patches of fur appear, her teeth sharpen, a lump at the base of her spine becomes the beginning of a tail, extra nipples emerge, and her sense of smell grows keen. She blames stress, or perimenopause, and becomes convinced that she is turning into a dog. She dreams of her Mennonite childhood and of her own mother running on all fours. A library book about women who turn into animals seems to confirm it. She gives in. Her son plays with the neighbourhood dogs, eats from a bowl and sleeps in a dog bed, and at last he sleeps through the night. So does she, dreaming of running free. At night she roams with the dogs and kills small animals. At a dinner with old friends she barks and eats from someone else's plate. One night she kills the family cat, and in the morning it lies on the porch.
When her husband asks why she never told him she needed help, she lets it all out: she wants her art back, and he never noticed what she gave up. He says she shut him out. They agree to separate for a while. He takes over much of the parenting and struggles; she prepares an exhibition. She comes to see that her mother carried the same wildness, and that her son has it too. The show, which she dedicates to the mothers she has come to know, is a success, and seeing her work he understands what she gave up. They come back together, and in the last scene she gives birth to a daughter, with him at her side.
Starring
Amy Adamsas Mother
An artist who gave up her work to stay home with her toddler son, and comes to believe she is turning into a dog.
Mother’s story
Home all week with her two-year-old while her husband travels, she smiles at the other mothers and imagines lashing out. When fur, sharp teeth and the start of a tail appear, she blames stress, then decides she is turning into a dog, and gives in. She raises her son like a puppy, and at last they both sleep. At night she runs with the neighbourhood dogs, and one night kills the family cat. When her husband asks why she never asked for help, she tells him she wants her art back and that he never saw what she gave up. They separate. Seeing the same wildness in her mother and her son, she prepares an exhibition; there her husband apologises. They come back together, and she gives birth to a daughter with him at her side.
Scoot McNairyas Husband
Her husband, away on work trips most of the week, who envies her time at home without seeing what it costs.
Husband’s story
He travels for work most of the week and, home at weekends, tells his wife he envies her time with their son. He offers her advice on scheduling rather than help, and when her temper frays he nearly calls her a bitch. After the cat is killed he asks why she never said she needed help; when she says she wants her art back and that he never saw what she gave up, he answers that she has shut him out since the birth. They separate. In a flat of his own, doing the parenting for the first time, he struggles. At her exhibition he sees what she gave up and apologises. They come back together, and he stands beside her as she gives birth to their daughter.
Arleigh Snowdenas Son
Their willful two-year-old, who will not sleep until his mother starts raising him like a puppy; twins share the role.
Emmett Snowdenas Son
The same two-year-old son, a part he shares with his twin brother, Arleigh.
Why it matters
Nightbitch takes a feeling mothers are rarely allowed to voice, rage at the life motherhood has made for them, and gives it fur and teeth. The dog is a joke and not a joke. It is what becomes of a woman who has been told to be patient, grateful and nice when her body stops co-operating. Marielle Heller adapted Rachel Yoder's 2021 novel, and its targets are concrete: the isolation of caring alone for a small child, an artistic life set aside, a husband who envies her time at home without seeing what it costs. Amy Adams was nominated for a Golden Globe for the role, and reviews were mixed. The film does not end by rejecting motherhood; it ends with the work shared and the self returned. The question it leaves is why she had to become something else entirely before anyone listened.