Amy Adams thrives in films like Nightbitch, even if she doesn’t win an Oscar for them

During the Thanksgiving holiday, I felt a strange urge inside me. The temptation wasn’t to sneak into the kitchen at midnight to shovel a reheated mixture of leftovers into my mouth, or to spend Black Friday carelessly adding things I don’t need to my credit card under the pretense of ” “To get more points!”

Nor would just any mid-budget dramedy suffice. I was hungry for the kind of film you could see if you strolled into a multiplex at 2pm on a Tuesday in 2006, world-weary and disinterested in being further drugged by the blockbuster offering that was crowded outside in the marquee. If the film starred a well-known actor seeking creative realization with a smaller project, all the better; Think of Will Ferrell in Stranger than Fiction or Steve Carell in Dan in Real Life. And while I have a soft spot for both films, neither would satisfy my spiritual hunger. What I needed was a new Amy Adams movie. What I needed was “Nightbitch.”

Nightbitch, the latest installment in Adams’ respectable collection of mid-budget films, sings with an accessible, everyday realism that moviegoers rarely see anymore. It may sound strange to say that about a movie that’s for all intents and purposes about a new mother who’s afraid of turning into a dog, but it’s true. Within the first 12 years of her acting career, Adams made a name for herself in this niche subgenre of modest dramas like Nightbitch. She received her first of six Oscar nominations for the 2005 film “Junebug,” in which she played Ashley, a young woman from North Carolina who is her brother’s wife, an art dealer, wide-eyed, strangely fascinating and remarkable receives heat. “Junebug” opened the door for Adams to explore similarly complex characters in modest but unforgettable films like “Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day” and the sensational, perpetually underrated “Sunshine Cleaning.” Such films — ones that use their tact and wit to wrestle with massive, complicated themes on a relatively small scale — are few and far between in theaters these days. Typically, they’re dumped on streaming services, where they’re left to fend for themselves amid algorithms, trending features, and a barrage of pure F-grade garbage.

“Nightbitch,” a 2021 adaptation of Rachel Yoder’s novel, almost suffered the same fate. The film was originally intended to be released on Hulu, where it would undoubtedly have performed modestly but not exceptionally well before ending up on watchlists, never to be seen again after leaving the platform’s landing page. Luckily for us, Searchlight Pictures ultimately decided to release it theatrically, no doubt to give Adams another shot at Oscar glory. But this is where “Nightbitch” and its place in Adams’ career in the broadest sense begin to gnarl. The film is classic Amy Adams material, reminiscent of the wonderful mid-budget dramas that emphasized substance over spectacle. It’s a thoroughly entertaining feature that deftly explains the trials of motherhood and the loss of autonomy and freedom that comes with it. And while it might earn Adams her seventh nomination, “Nightbitch” likely won’t earn Adams her first Oscar, and that’s a mutually exclusive sacrifice that must be made in order to even truly enjoy the work.

Amy Adams in “Nightbitch” (Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures)

That’s not to say that Adams’ role in Nightbitch is mediocre at all, just that she holds her own against stiff competition from her industry peers. In the role of the otherwise unnamed mother, Adams delivers a performance from the first scene that is stripped down to the essentials and yet undeniably fierce. The viewer is drawn into the dissonance between Mother’s scattered mindset and the repetitive monotony of her everyday life as a housewife. Mom loves her son more than anything, but she can only handle so much singing with Mom and me at the local library and then tepid conversation among the other parents. While constantly stressed, Mom finds herself reflected in the animalistic aspects of everyday life and gives in to her id, playing the protector and caretaker – not the supermom – to satisfy the way her brain has been changing since birth your child has changed. Mother finds comfort in rebuking the matriarchal norms set by a judgmental society and relates more to the friendly street dogs in her neighborhood who resist domestication without leaving their pack. It is not reduced to something smaller. Rather, “Mother” taps into a power that remained untapped until the birth of her child, and Adams is magnificent and overwhelmingly real as she approaches this newfound confidence.

The film itself is less moving than Adams’ performance, but not without merits. Writer-director Marielle Heller has written a strong script, especially considering that the film’s source novel doesn’t easily lend itself to adaptation. “Nightbitch” is simple and a little unstylish, but it doesn’t shy away from tackling a sensitive subject and does so with grace and confidence. However, it was hard to tell much from the film’s trailer, which caused a stir on social media when it was released in September. The preview fit perfectly with the film’s mid-budget charm, but angered those who have been hoping for Adams’ Oscar gold for years and wanted to see a more concrete representation of her talents in the clip. “What were we thinking?” one user posted. “I can hear everyone taking this off their Oscar ads right now.”

When “Nightbitch” premiered at TIFF in September, reviews were imbued with similar sentiments, wondering whether the film could earn Adams another nomination, although Heller took some hits by making the film a straight-up dramedy rather than a straight-up dramedy made something as strange as the novel. On the TIFF red carpet, Adams was even asked if she thought the film could earn her another Oscar nomination. Of course, she replied, “It’s not something I think about when I’m approaching a role or walking down a red carpet.”

What a strange thing to even ask someone, not to mention that the question of whether or not a film like Nightbitch could win an Oscar is completely reductive. The film is certainly straightforward, but there’s no shortage of meatier, quirkier things embedded in its narrative to ask its star about. It’s disappointing that couch pundits have become so popular that discussion of “Nightbitch” focuses not on the film’s moving thematic revelations but on whether or not it will be nominated for an award. How ironic that Adams is now looking down on her “Hillbilly Elegy” co-star Glenn Close’s number of Oscar nominations (Close has eight, while Adams is at six), considering that every time one of the actors has one When a new film comes out, the excitement is inevitably focused on his chance to snag the big prize.

Adams’ career has become the subject of unfair scrutiny, as both amateur pundits and serious publications analyze their roles based on how much voter attention they might attract, rather than their achievements themselves. It’s an unfair measure of success, and one that Adams – who has delivered so many remarkable, important performances in films that never had a chance at an Oscar – doesn’t deserve it. When frequent nominees release a new film, if we only focus on whether they can achieve fleeting awards fame, it’s impossible to appreciate the art itself. Watching a movie just to make a mental checklist of possible Oscar clips is no way to cope with life, and it certainly doesn’t inspire real admiration for the work on screen. And we wonder why mid-budget films like “Nightbitch” are almost always thrown into streaming!

Conflating the tendency to judge a film based on its Oscar chances with the reluctance of studios and financiers to support mid-budget features may seem extreme, but it’s no big secret that people have money for you want to guarantee guaranteed success. In that respect, we’re lucky to be able to see Nightbitch in theaters at all. That alone is one of the main reasons you should spend your money to see it at your local theater – to remind those in suits that stories like this not only matter, but have an audience. There is great power in seeing characters on screen who look like us and have the same problems as us. It’s a good sign that Adams’ wide range of roles has attracted so many fans who want to see her recognized for her outstanding performances. But it’s important to remember the value at the core of the work and to see films on their own merits rather than simply dismissing them because they have no chance of winning an Oscar.

When looking for interesting actors, we should look for a diversified portfolio of roles; big swings, clear risks and even a whole series of complete critical and commercial flops. Adams has them all, and that’s what made her such a contender in the first place. “Nightbitch” may not be one of her absolute best works, but it’s something almost better – a poignant, unpretentious performance that doesn’t need a tour de force to do its job. Get off social media, away from the prize pools and into the theater. You might even find that an honest, mid-budget drama film that doesn’t get any nominations is your favorite film of the year.