2025 was a year with so many, so many great female performances in cinema that we have to resign ourselves to the “forgotten” ones. Among them, it is somewhat curious that Amy Adams was left out of the Oscars, even though she was remembered by the Golden Globes. She is the star and soul of the bizarre Nightbitch, the film that arrived directly on Disney+ now at the end of January and is worth checking out!

The film is inspired by the satirical novel by Rachel Yoder that addresses uniquely very current issues in the female universe such as motherhood, identity, and the daily challenges of a modern family. No one has a “name” on purpose precisely so that everyone can identify with the story: a woman (Adams) abandons her artistic career to dedicate herself fully to the home and raising her son while her husband (Scoot McNairy) is often absent due to the demands of his career. In this oppressive universe, she “turns into a dog,” the Nightbitch of the original title. You can read it again because that’s exactly what it is. It’s a metaphor, but it’s also literal.

That’s why Amy Adams herself had a hard time explaining it, commenting that “it’s about isolation, transformation, community, anger, motherhood, fatherhood, sexuality. There’s so much involved that it’s hard to define in a single sentence.”

It would be a kind of updated and less tragic Kafka’s Metamorphosis because in many moments she finds herself free from having to behave as expected. In the film written and directed by Marielle Heller, the intrinsic connection between humans and their most primal impulses is the basis of everything. And at the center is one of the most complex issues in the female universe: motherhood. “We don’t talk much about becoming a parent as the rite of passage that it really is. It’s a huge transformation of identity. For me, I felt completely changed on a cellular level. I didn’t recognize myself when I looked in the mirror or at my wedding when my partner and I looked at each other. Everything changed in such a significant way that I thought, ‘Why doesn’t anyone talk about this identity shift that happens when you become a parent?’, said the director.

One of the positive aspects of an otherwise uncomfortable story is that Heller maintained the claustrophobic intimacy of the novel that gives way to graphic images and uncomfortable situations, but having an actress with the talent of Amy Adams makes it all strangely work. It has drama, surrealism, and comedy, an unexpected journey into the human (and canine) psyche. As screenwriter Tim Smith says, the story is about an emotional journey: “From the beginning, we always saw this film as a descent from heaven to hell. A dream that becomes a nightmare through the lens of our protagonist. We can’t wait for fans of the novel and new viewers to embark on this journey.”

Ready for the adventure? Let me know what you think!

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