Nocturnal Animals

The film Nocturnal Animals tells the story of Susan Morrow, a successful art gallery owner in her forties, living a life that seems polished and composed to the outside world. However, beneath the surface, she is a complex individual grappling with the ghost of her past. Susan's life was once intertwined with that of Edward Sheffield, a writer whom she left 20 years prior to pursue a life of luxury and personal freedom. The catalyst for a journey of self-discovery and introspection is the call Susan receives from a Los Angeles publishing house. They have received a manuscript from Edward Sheffield, a writer she had abandoned two decades ago. The manuscript is a novel titled Nocturnal Animals, and the company requests that Susan return to her roots by offering an objective review of Edward's work. Susan's encounter with Edward's writing seems almost fateful, almost as if the act of acknowledging his work could reopen the door to her past life and all its emotional tumult. The story segues seamlessly into the fictional narrative of Nocturnal Animals, which poses as a novel written by Edward. The fictional storyline revolves around Anthony Hastings (aka "Tony"), an accountant and mathematics professor, struggling to express himself through art. He embarks on a family road trip from Los Angeles to Santa Fe with his wife, Laura, and their teenage daughter, India. Their usually tranquil journey turns violent when they are subjected to a merciless hostage situation by a trio of reckless and calculating young men in a rural New Mexico gas station. This striking turn of events opens a lid on a darker reality that the Hastings family will never forget. Tony, the unassuming husband and father, is required to confront the visceral cruelty that resides within him. The character of Tony harbors a sense of inadequacy and bitterness that surfaces in response to the traumatic events. Through the escalating events that unfold in the narrative of Nocturnal Animals, Edward expresses the underlying anxieties and inner turmoil that were present in his marriage to Susan. As Susan reads through the manuscript, the lines between reality and fiction begin to blur. It is in this fluid, destabilized space that Susan is forced to reexamine her past, the remnants of her former relationship with Edward, and the emotional rift it had caused. Moreover, the narrative further involves Susan in her analysis of Edward's artwork, thereby intertwining the past and present, the world of reality with the world of fantasy. The blurred boundaries between Susan's real life and the fictional world within the manuscript sets the stage for her own emotional struggle for closure. Susan's intimate and introspective thoughts during the read-through of Nocturnal Animals unravel a complex dynamic between her and Edward. It becomes evident that Susan has not entirely let go of her past but continues to engage with the fragments that keep creeping into her present. It reveals her genuine reluctance to confront her unresolved feelings towards Edward. The painful and bruised history of Susan and Edward resurfaces in her memory, transporting her into the uncertain realm where her emotions refuse to resolve. The reader witnesses Susan's growing empathy as she observes Tony struggle with the extreme violence that she had kept hidden even to Edward. The reader comprehends how Tony's suffering, a miniature replica of the anguish Edward has endured years prior, and its aftermath prompts a deep introspection within Susan. Throughout her contemplation of Edward's novel, Susan discovers herself through Tony's painful ordeal, as though establishing that commonalities exist between their shared experiences. Edward, however, presents a deliberate and calculated portrait of Susan, seen through the eyes of Tony, a fractured and painful reflection of Susan's life with the charismatic, yet vulnerable Edward Sheffield. By choosing to involve his former wife in the judging of his novel, Edward attempts to place the fragments of their disintegrated past out into the open. Susan finally responds, and sends Edward a negative response out of both a desire for detachment from her past and a possibly unconscious desire to maintain the shield of a 'moving on' life that has since detached itself from the instability that marked her early years with Edward.