It’s been a long time since director Tom Ford stepped behind the lens – too long, perhaps – but this awards season, Nocturnal Animals heralds the return of the award-winning filmmaker and if TIFF reviews are any indication, Ford could potentially have another hit on his hands in the vein of A Single Man.
Treading the line between character drama and full-blown noir thriller, Nocturnal Animals centers on the troubled relationship between Susan (Amy Adams) and Edward (Gyllenhaal). What starts off as an intense, passionate love affair descends into a twisted plot for revenge, basically, after Edward pens a dark, potentially threatening screenplay and dedicates it to Susan. To make matters worse, in one of the three new clips below, Susan confesses, “I did something horrible to him – something unforgivable,” and though she stops short of revealing exactly what that mistake was, it’s clearly sent Gyllenhaal’s wounded writer over the edge.
As the plot unfolds, Michael Shannon’s stoic Texas sheriff gets drawn into the situation, and today’s batch of new footage acts as a welcome primer for Tom Ford’s multi-faceted affair ahead of its initial release next month. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Isla Fisher, Armie Hammer, Laura Linney, Andrea Riseborough, and Michael Sheen round out the enviable ensemble.
The real question now is, can Nocturnal Animals compete in this year’s awards season? It’s not what one would call a conventional Oscar winner, but the calibre of talent on both sides of the camera leads us to believe that those nightly creatures could be in with a shout. We’ll find out when Ford’s starry pic begins rolling into select theaters on November 18. It’ll then expand into theaters nationwide on December 9.