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Last year, women wiped away the tears while listening to America Ferrera’s heartfelt speech about womanhood in Barbie. And the dark and bizarre comedy Nightb*tch goes a step (or 10) further—exploring the highs but mostly the lows of motherhood through the eyes of a lonely stay-at-home mom.
Nightb*tch follows a tired mom (Amy Adams) as she goes through one seemingly identical day after another with her adorable son (Arleigh and Emmett Snowden) while her husband (Scoot McNairy) spends most of his time traveling for business. Though her mom guilt tells her that she has no right to complain, she often reminisces about her days as an artist—and she wonders how her own mother felt about giving up her dreams to become a mother. And when she starts undergoing a strange transformation at night, she’s not sure whether to fight it or embrace it.
From the film’s opening scene, when the character imagines opening up to an old colleague about the stress and frustration and loneliness of being a mother, it’s clear that this isn’t just another fluffy comedy about the messiness of motherhood. It takes the relatable outrageous comedy of Bad Moms and gives it a dark and sometimes disturbing twist. The character’s inner monologue is brutally honest, working through everything from her guilt about making the wrong decisions and her fear of messing up her son to her lack of interest in making “mom friends.” And in its honesty, it’s a raw and edgy exploration of motherhood—all of its joys and messiness and loneliness and heartbreak and absurdity.
Of course, there’s more to the story than just a stay-at-home mom’s growing awareness of her discontentment. The character’s gradual transformation into a dog after her child is asleep is definitely bizarre. But as it plays out, it makes sense. Almost. And in the moments when her dog-self can run with the other dogs, it feels almost…joyful.
There are times when the story drags a bit—especially when the character joins her old friends for dinner and realizes that she no longer relates to anything they have to say. But, for the most part, it’s a dark and weird and funny look at one mom’s attempts to find herself back in the midst of motherhood.
Though it definitely has a specific (and, seemingly, rather small) target audience, there are a whole lot of moms out there who will relate to the character and appreciate the story’s dark humor. And they’ll walk out of the theater relieved to know that they’re not alone.
You can join this tired mother on a late-night run when Nightb*tch arrives in theaters on December 6, 2024.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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