Nightbitch may feel conventional at times, but it is a sharp excavation of motherhood and what it does not only to your body but your mind. Marielle Heller is in top form as she explores how being a mother is to be busy the rest of your life. The film is never pointing the finger at men or has anti-children undertones as so many other films exploring these themes often do; Nightbitch is a surreal telling of what a drastic change bringing a child into this world is. 

Amy Adams stars as simply Mother in Nightbitch, no name even billed on IMDb, and it feels as if a sign of how society simply views women once they become mothers. We first meet her as she’s exchanging fake pleasantries with another woman in a grocery store, where she’s asked if she loves not working and being at home with her child. Mother has a look on her face that says it all and then she quickly opens up into a brutally honest answer regarding women who sacrifice their not just their careers, but their looks and happiness for motherhood only to be looked down upon by others, how easy and freeing it must be to simply only care for your child… but then she snaps back to reality and delivers the acceptable answer of how much she loves staying at home. Marielle Heller quickly sets the tone for being a comedic tale that is much darker when you really listen. Nightbitch is often hilarious but it’s brutally honest and often heartbreaking.

As Mother, Adams flawlessly embodies the vision of a woman who loves her child but is also burdened by the disruption of her own life. She was once an artist but gave that up to stay at home and care for her son so her husband (Scoot McNairy) could support them. Montage after montage demonstrates Mother’s daily routine, cooking the hashbrown breakfast to the battle of getting a toddler to eat to the park they go and then repeating the food battle for lunch. You can see the repetition draining the life out of her as many parents feel day after day. The isolation from other adults takes a toll on parents and there’s an unspoken pain in losing a sense of freedom once you’re constructed to living within these routines. Mother now feels the weight of the expectations to now only communicate with other mothers. 

Husband spends all of his time away for work, leaving Mother solely taking care of their son. As she drowns in the routine and forced small talk with other mothers, she is reckoning with the feeling she’s lost a vital part of herself. She, and the movie, do not blame Husband or the toddler in the center of the story, it’s the system of parenthood. What makes Nightbitch so special and stand out from other movies exploring these similar themes is that it’s never blaming anyone in the family for how Mother is feeling. While there are instances you want to blame Husband, for example, when Mother says she’s unhappy and he says, “Happiness is a choice.” McNairy plays Husband unlike many other actors would; many would default to him being aloof and useless, yet he fills him with a yearning to figure it out. Husband is struggling with his own unspoken issues, creating a relatability for many couples. There’s a lack of communication about expectations and needs, causing a distance between the couple. 

Emotional labor is a brutal topic that is often exposed for couples once a child arrives. Heller brilliantly explores how often the provider can simply make their partner’s feelings invalid by not listening, digesting, and responding to their words. Many will attempt to keep the peace and avoid dealing with the issue as a means of avoiding what they feel is confrontation. Adams and McNairy bring this usually unspoken issue to the screen deftly as they guide their characters to having a real emotional connection allowing for audiences to truly see themselves in these moments. Their conversations feel authentic and it’s impossible not see the emotional bandwidth comparisons as women are expected to be able to process more versus men who are typically not encouraged to speak their emotions. 

Giving birth is a type of body horror. Many will experience firsthand how pregnancy changes you forever; it’s not just the months of maybe being sick or unable to sleep or itchy but the lingering stretchmarks and changing of your waist. Birth itself is a trauma on the body that you’re expected to never speak of because it results in a beautiful moment of your child being brought into the world yet it’s a disturbing experience for many. Many women, me included, have had traumatic deliveries that only became pleasant the moment they knew their child was healthy. Nightbitch doesn’t delve as deep as it could into the physical body horror, but the themes are all there. Having Mother develop a new kind of body horror instead of birth but changing into a dog allows her to break free; a beautiful sentiment for a woman stuck inside the title of strictly mother. It feels freeing to watch as she makes the final run through the streets in dog form. Nightbitch will be a classic film passed on from struggling mother to struggling mother for years to come; a staple in motherhood in cinema. 

Motherhood changes your body and mind forever. Even after you’ve given birth, you’re never the same as your life is never strictly just about you ever again. It’s like this for any parent but different for mothers. Mothers are held much more responsible for everything with their child by society at large while forced to balance working or pushed as the only option to give up work to stay at home with the child. No matter what mothers do, we often feel we’re failing. A disconnection with your partner romantically feels on your shoulders. Not spending time with your child because you’re at work yet feeling as if you’re not doing enough at work because you’re leaving to be with your child. It’s a balance that feels impossible to manage and a pressure that feels overwhelming to bare. Yet, mothers are conditioned to keep a happy face to ensure their child never sees this burden. It often carries over to keeping this same face to their partners and loved ones. We are supposed to be the happiest we’ve ever been yet that pressure feels more intense at times than the actual joy because it’s not as openly discussed just how hard being a mother is. Mothers most often deny themselves their own sense of self as they put themselves last in order to care for their children. Nightbitch examines not just the toll that takes on mothers but how mothers need to be free. Society expects so much of mothers and Nightbitch allows mothers to feel seen and heard as something outside of that title. 

Nightbitch may feel conventional at times, but it is a sharp excavation of motherhood and what it does not only to your body but your mind. Heller is in top form as she explores how being a mother is to be busy the rest of your life. The film is never pointing the finger at men or has anti-children undertones as so many other films exploring these themes often do; Nightbitch is a surreal telling of what a drastic change bringing a child into this world is. 

Grade: A-

Oscars Prospects:
Likely: None
Should be Considered: Best Lead Actress (Amy Adams), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Make-up and Hairstyling

Release Date: December 6, 2024
Where to Watch: In Theaters