Nocturnal Animals (2016)

[Frayed Knot]

A wealthy forty-something art gallery owner in a loveless marriage to a good-looking though vapid business man (Armie Hammer, ladies and gentlemen, in the role he was born to play!!) gets thrown
for a loop when, despite little contact for almost two decades, her former husband sends her his manuscript for a novel complete with a dedication to her.

The movie within a movie proceeds as it switches between the present, flashbacks of her first marriage to this future writer, and the plot of the novel itself come alive as she reads and is obviously affected by it.
Is this book an homage to her? an attempt at rapprochement? a threat? revenge?

Amy Adams is the art dealer. Jake Gyllenhall as both the first husband and the protagonist in his own story.
Also Michael Shannon, Laura Linney, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and the aforementioned Armie Hammer.


This one is a bit of a tough watch and I suspect opinions of it will swing towards both extremes to a greater degree than for most movies.

[Guest sharpie]

Saw it on a plane last Saturday. Terrible place to see that movie since back-of-seat screens are dark and the movie takes place almost entirely at night (nocturnal and all). I liked it more than I thought I would and found all three stories (present, past and novel) compelling.