“Nightbitch” on Disney+: That’s why you should definitely watch the film
Warning: This article contains spoilers for “Nightbitch” on Disney+.
Everyone: r at least once Amy Adams performance in“Nightbitch”have seen. How good that the film is now on Disney+! In the first five minutes she delivers a blatant monologue about the different sides of the worldto answer the question of whether she doesn't think it's "so wonderful" that she can "be at home with her son all day." The answer is more complex than, “Yes, I love being a mother.”
In the film based on the novel by Marielle Heller, a mother (Amy Adams) overcome by a wild instinct and transforms - whether we see it literally or figuratively - into a dog.
But what “Nightbitch” also does is portray the desperate, lonely and joyful story of motherhood – and also the misogyny that a patriarchal society places on a woman and her body, especially when she becomes a mother.
Now you might think: a film in which a mother turns into a dog? How can you identify with that? But “Nightbitch” goes much deeper than just showing a mother’s transformation into an animal: from the irritatingly sexist reactions of the mother’s husband (Scoot McNairy), who could be described as a “nice guy” but who carries a serious internalized misogyny, right down to exposing the inequality in parenting teams and the necessary empowerment through the admission that no mother is perfect. It is a satire of.
8 reasons why you should definitely see “Nightbitch”.
GLAMOR has compiled the eight most powerful moments in which “Nightbitch” exposes the misogynistic norms that surround women's bodies and their experiences of motherhood. The main character, played by Amy Adams, is only called “Mother” in the film.
The moment mom is judged by the way she eats in public
As the mother's transformation into a dog begins, strange things begin to happen to her - and she begins to develop instincts. At first she tries to defend herself, but it becomes more and more difficult. In a scene in a cafeteria, mother is eating with her son and the cutlery breaks. So she encourages her son to eat with his hands and devour his food like a dog in public. When Mother follows this example and indulges her wild nature in the cafeteria, men and women alike look at her strangely.
We're not saying it necessarilyis correct, eating messily in public. But the condemnation of mother by others is consistent with the pressure placed on women, especially mothers, to always appear perfect and graceful on the outside - even in a time as chaotic as early motherhood.
©Searchlight Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
The moment the husband is disgusted by her graphic description of periods
Just a quick warning: the mother's husband isn't going to fare well here - even if he's not necessarily a bad person. He just represents what the patriarchy demands of women. Like when he interrupts mom's long overdue shower to tell her they're out of milk. Her anger literally boils out of her when she suggests that he get the milk himself. An idea he apparently hasn't considered, as he assumes it's her job alone to keep track of their young child's food and life.
She suggests that he go with her son and tells him that she still needs tampons because she is about to bleed (which she describes quite graphically). Her husband is disgusted at this description, another misogynistic reaction to the woman's body.
The moment mother discovers body hair on her chin and back
This scene is truly a highlight. Amy Adams has already commented on thisexpressed, that she grew chin hair or “whiskers” herself for the role in order to portray such body hair as “radical acceptance of change.” Her character, Mother, reacts to this discovery – which in the film is part of her journey to transform into a dog – with curiosity and interest, rather than immediately feeling ashamed.
This scene is for any woman who has felt embarrassed or insecure about unwanted or unexpected body hair. The patriarchy has made us wage a campaign against our owninstead of learning to embrace and love them - or at least accept them.
©Searchlight Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
The moment mom opens up about feeling like a single parent since she quit her job
When mom tells her husband that she feels like a single mom since giving up her career and says, "I'm the housewife I never wanted to be," it breaks my heart.
The phrase perfectly encapsulates how women are let down by society's expectations of motherhood. The isolation that has become normal, the emotional and mental burden that is not always shared across a parenting team, and the devastating impact on a mother's self-esteem when this happens.
The moment mom's husband doesn't encourage her when she has doubts about her career
At a particularly deep point in the crisis we witness in “Nightbitch,” Mother confides in her husband that she no longer feels like an artist. She even says that describing herself as an “artist” is selfish and ridiculous. She says that she is herswant to give up and just concentrate on being a mother. The husband quickly accepts this and offers her no support or encouragement regarding her career, even though it is clear that she is struggling with an identity and confidence crisis.
©Searchlight Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
She later tells him how much self-confidence this rejection cost her. It was easier for the husband - and many other men in real life - to reduce a woman's personality to the role of mother. Easier than also giving space to her other hopes, ambitions and dreams, which don't necessarily disappear when a woman has a child.
The moment when the husband expresses his disappointment at how motherhood has affected mother's personality
This moment really annoyed me. During an argument about her dissatisfaction and unhappiness about being a housewife, the husband gets really carried away with disrespectful comments. He talks about his disappointment that she isn't the same as she used to be, that she doesn't ask about his day anymore. “What happened to my wife?” he asks, and mother answers very aptly: “She died in childbirth!”
This angry and heartbreaking scene shows the impossible expectations placed on mothers with babies. How women are still expected to be everything to everyone, even when they are entrusted with one of the most demanding tasks in the world: motherhood. It really shows how fierce the patriarchy is that the husband manages to see their struggle from his perspectiveherTo reduce inadequacies instead of trying to help her out of her crisis. Women are portrayed as villains for not doing enough, even when they are on the verge of collapse.
©Searchlight Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
The moment when mom and her friends talk about what they screwed up as mothers
After the unfortunate death of a pet, Mother finally opens up to her friends (a group she is initially reluctant to connect with - but who develops a wonderful dynamic) and tells them about the incident. This leads to every woman giving examples of what she screwed up as a mother.
In a world where women are expected to be perfect mothers, to the detriment of their own well-being and mental health, this moment felt particularly empowering.
The moment the mother admits that a “fairer” parenting plan could have changed everything
As we witness the climax of the film, the mother and her husband confront the effects of parenthood on theirmother tells him that perhaps their problems could have been avoided - with a more equal distribution of parenting.
In the interest of this equality and the sharing of the heavy work, it might be worthwhile for the husband (and all men) to agree not to refer to caring for their own child as “babysitting.” It would be nice not to say that they would kill to be able to stay home with the child. As if, firstly, this wasn't an option for her and secondly, it wasn't very strenuous work - and rather not fun.
The importance of finding that equality – something that is so out of reach for women when it comes to raising children and so many other areas of their lives – is an important message that “Nightbitch” aims to convey.
