It sounds like a joke: a movie in which Amy Adams turns into a dog. (Or does she?) And in some ways it is – Nightbitch, with that provocative title, isn’t shying away from its satirical take on motherhood, and the physical and psychological changes that come with it. But there’s a power and potency to that story too – one which director Marielle Heller (previously behind Can You Ever Forgive Me? and A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood) hopes to extract in adapting Rachel Yoder’s novel of the same name.
“There was something so cathartic about being able to admit that there is a deep animalistic rage within us,” Heller tells Empire. “Societally, or in our own lives, we’ve just figured out a way to bury it.” In the film, Adams’ unnamed ‘Mother’ grapples with new motherhood, and finds herself undergoing a canine transformation. “For me, the metaphor became about ‘Nightbitch’ being this sort of unchecked, unintegrated rage,” explains Heller. “And as we admit it and find a way to channel it into other avenues, then we can integrate Nightbitch.”
Whether or not Adams actually is transforming, the intention is to use all the power of cinema to make it feel true – literally or metaphorically. “This metaphor and this story just felt so true to life to me,” Heller says of first reading Yoder’s book. “It was a very visceral reaction I had to it. It felt real.” Get ready for a more feral kind of shaggy dog story.
Read Empire’s full Nightbitch story in the 40 Years Of The Terminator issue, on sale Thursday 26 September. Order a copy online here. Nightbitch comes to UK cinemas on 6 December.