The film “Under the Cover of the Night” (Nocturnal Animals) was released in 2016. Immediately after the premiere, the thriller became the subject of discussion, because not a single spectator had ever seen Amy Adams in the form in which she appeared in front of us in the famous movie. In this article we will analyze in detail the sensational psychological thriller “Under the Cover of the Night”, and also learn how the film was shot and what efforts the director made to convey to each viewer an intriguing and mystical atmosphere.
Attention! If you have not watched this adaptation, then be prepared for the fact that the article may contain spoilers that will tell you a detailed plot of the film.
A bit about the film: the plot, the main idea
The film “Under the Cover of the Night” is a psychological thriller that aims not only to amaze the viewer, but to a greater extent surprise. The story of the movie revolves around the beautiful main character Susan. The life of a young girl was formed in a very ordinary way: a good job, she married a second time, no children. It would seem that more is needed for happiness, because Susan is surrounded by a quiet, peaceful and measured life. However, everything changes at one moment when the former spouse Edward invades the life of the main character.
15 years after the breakdown of the first relationship, Susan receives an envelope book written by Edward. Despite a different life, the girl decides to read the manuscript and is surprised to find that her ex-husband is eager to regain the love of his whole life. After reading the book, Susan is convinced that all events in reality began to mix with the events taking place in the book. And now the girl will have to deal with everything, because every day for the main character becomes more and more dangerous. Will the girl’s life turn into a real nightmare and turn into horror, or will Susan be able to figure out what is happening and stop the crazy, mysterious and terrifying pursuer?
Cast and Roles
The film "Under the Cover of the Night" (USA) has a strong cast. Since this is a psychological thriller, the director’s main task is to select those actors who could actually convey the experiences and tragedy of the film. For this reason, Amy Adams was chosen as the main character, as the girl is already known to the viewer for such heavy dramas and psychological thrillers as Big Eyes and Batman vs. Superman.
So, what exactly were the actors in Under Cover of the Night involved? It:
- Amy Adams as Susan Morrow (the main character around whom events unfold).
- Jake Gyllenhaal as Edward Sheffield (Susan's ex-husband who created the manuscript and mailed the young girl. Jake Gyllenhaal in the film also plays the role of Tony Hastings - one of the fictional characters in the movie).
- Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Ray Marcus.
- Michael Shannon in the role of Bobby Andes (in the film "Under cover of night" is a detective - a fictional character).
- Ellie Bamber as India Hastings (Tony Hastings daughter - a fictional character).
- Karl Glusman as Lou (fictional character like Ray Marcus).
- Robert Aramayo as Bes.
- Isla Fisher as Laura Hastings (represents the wife and mother of the four Hastings).
- Laura Linney as Anne Sutton (familiar to the main character).
Director's work
He directed the film “Under the Cover of the Night” directed by Tom Ford, who is a designer and creative director. Tom Ford is an unusual director, because he began his career in 2009, when he released the movie "Lone Man" in wide distribution.
The story of Tom Ford began when he was a child. The boy from early childhood showed a genuine interest in art, which is why, starting from the age of 17, he began to work as a model in his spare time. The boy was not deprived of good appearance: the right features, a sexual body, high growth. Tom Ford always created the feeling of a brutal man, even as a teenager. This played a big role in building a future career.
Ford's Way consists of several fashion houses, which include Chloe, Katie Hardwick and Gucci. In the last company, the designer played an important role. Tom Ford literally pulled the famous Italian brand out of the pit, helped him revive and shine again on the pedestal. This went on for many years, and Ford gradually walked up the career ladder, took awards and became famous in his circles. Until 2009, the designer was able to open his clothing line under the brand name “Tom Ford International” and dozens of boutiques throughout Europe, including in Moscow.
In 2009, the designer and director released the first film, which collected two nominations and received one award. After this, the already renowned artist, after 7 years, releases the famous film “Under the cover of night” (2016).
The director feels the beauty and sophistication so much that he was able to convey the whole intense atmosphere of the psychological thriller with the help of seasoned style and elegance. That is why Amy Adams in the picture is not a simple housewife, but the owner of a large art gallery in the country.
Awards and nominations
“The Lone Man” is the first work of Tom Ford, which was able to get an Oscar and a Golden Globe, but only has a statuette from the British Film Academy. On the contrary, the film “Under the Cover of the Night” in 2016 won the hearts of the audience and the jury at the Venice Film Festival. At this film festival, the film took a special jury prize and came out the winner. But he has other awards and nominations:
- The film received the nomination "Best Actor in a Supporting Role" at the Oscar. The nomination went to Michael Shannon.
- Thanks to Aaron Taylor-Johnson, the film won the prize for Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Globe. Tom Ford was nominated for Best Director of 2017.
- According to the British Academy, the film “Under the Cover of the Night” gathered 9 different nominations, but not a single award.
- The Guild of Actors awarded the team a nomination for "Best Stunt Team".
- At the same film festival in Venice, Tom Ford took another nomination - “Golden Lion”.
The character of the main character
In the film “Under the Cover of the Night,” Amy Adams (Susan) played an elegant and sexy girl. However, the viewer begins to change his mind in relation to the main character, since now Amy Adams appears before them in a completely different light. Initially, the viewer thinks that the beautiful, feminine owner of the gallery is a victim who is pursued by her ex-husband. According to the plot, everything happens exactly the opposite: the victim was Jake Gyllenhaal (Edward), because his ex-wife left her husband in the most difficult period, offending all feelings and trampling faith in herself. The guy had to go through 15 years to figure out if he was as weak as Susan thought he was. The man transferred all these emotions and feelings to paper and decided to send his ex-lover so that she would look at herself from the side. Not a bad psychological trick, is it?
A woman will have to face her past life again, because Edward has something like a split personality, and these events are strongly reflected in the main character.
The plot “Under cover of night” is twisted so that it will be difficult for an ordinary viewer to predict the further actions of the actors. The habits and play of Amy Adams make you think about your mistakes, and also help the viewer to experience with the heroine all the most intense scenes in the film.
What role did Jake Gyllenhaal play in the movie
In the film “Under cover of night” Jake Gyllenhaal played a key figure, because it was his hero who forms the unbanal, unusual, extraordinary storyline. The whole point of the film is that the guy was initially mentally unwell, as it might seem at first glance. Not enough to be noticed by others. But any prolonged stressful situation can disable a person. The same thing happened with the main character, when failures began to occur in life one after another. First, the wife ceases to believe, and then, together with her mother, begins to mock at every step, then the hero realizes that in the writing career he will not be able to achieve even the slightest success. Ultimately, the wife throws Edward, leaving a painful scar on the hero's soul. However, those who watched the film to the end can safely say that the main character did not have any mental illness.
After 19 years, Edward finishes the novel "Nocturnal Animals", which reflects the hard life of the author. The novel is a description of a completely different world, which is sucking Susan (Amy Adams). The manuscript sent is revenge, which should convey to the main character all the pain that Edward felt for a long and painful 19 years. When the novel falls into the hands of the heroine, the events described in the book begin to occur in reality. After all, the main idea of ​​the film is that the manuscript presents the story of the Hastings family, who were brutally killed on the way to Texas.
Undoubtedly, Jake Gyllenhaal was able to convey the whole true mystical and mysterious atmosphere of the film “Under the Cover of Night”. The actor has invaluable experience and is more than anyone else familiar with the genre of this film, because the viewer Jake Gyllenhaal is known for such films as “Donnie Darko”, “Source Code”, “Enemy” and “Zodiac”.
Isla Fisher in the movie
In the film “Under Cover of Night,” Isla Fisher played the mother and wife of the Hastings family. He is a fictional character and hero from the handwritten novel "Nocturnal animals." It is safe to say that director Tom Ford was able to accurately convey an interesting plot where the film is about the book.
Isla Fisher is a victim of brutal violence. Everything happened in the manuscript of Edward, where a young family decided to go to Texas for the weekend. However, at night, on the road, the car was attacked by criminals who subsequently killed Isla's heroine - Laura - and her daughter India, played by Ellie Bamber.
The story itself, in which the actress participated, was to be an instructive lesson for the main character. Edward - the author of "Nocturnal Animals" - has perfected his skills so much that he was able to create a literary masterpiece that can win and absorb the heart of every reader. The same thing happened with the heroine Amy Adams. The colorful characters from the four Hastings were supposed to show that Susan had lost after breaking up with Edward and falling in love with another man.
Genre and related films
The genre of Under the Cover of the Night is a thriller. However, in the film industry there is no concept of "psychological thriller." There is a psychological drama that can be described in simple terms and called a thriller.
The essence of thrillers is that the film keeps the viewer in suspense until the very end. For this, semantic load is used. Thriller closely borders on the genre of "detective", because in itself it cannot exist. Therefore, most often this genre is found in conjunction with investigations, killings and mysterious circumstances.
The thriller is also an action-packed film adaptation, which is filled with unpredictability and surprises. As a rule, the task of the film is to cause a storm of emotions in the viewer, and not always positive ones. Translated from English, the word "thriller" means "trembling, tremor or excitement." It is these emotions that arise when viewing high-quality psychological drama.
Reviews of "Under the Cover of the Night" prove that director Tom Ford managed to convey a tense atmosphere in just about 2 hours of film adaptation. This is confirmed by the plot of the film itself, where it is not entirely clear whether the main actor is crazy or not, many fictional characters in the film or real ones.
Despite this, the film “Under the Cover of the Night” reviews are not as inspiring as, for example, the thriller “Island of the Damned” (2010), which not only surprised viewers with its non-banal plot, but also made every spectator doubt the reality. Those who like to tickle their nerves and turn their minds on while watching movies are advised to watch such films as Insomnia (2002), Sixth Sense (1999), Identification (2003) and Disappeared (2014) g.).
What critics say
First of all, you need to understand that “Under the Cover of the Night” was created on the basis of the already released novel by Austin Wright, entitled “Tony and Susan”. For twenty years, the world has read and studied Wright's story, in order to later see a more modernized adaptation of the film. Due to the fact that the book “Tony and Susan” was on the bestseller list for several years, viewers, along with critics, were eagerly awaiting the film version of the popular novel. Under the Cover of the Night awards do not attribute success to director Tom Ford, but to Austin Wright.
All reviews for the film are written according to a simple principle: first, the viewer expects an adaptation, based on information and mystery, which is transmitted through the trailer; then the viewer waits for the premiere and visits the cinema, where he compares the description and trailer with the movie he saw. Despite all the reviews, it is not always possible to say whether the film is a failure or worthy of the stars. The film “Under cover of night” has the most mixed reviews. The audience divided into two fronts: some say that the film adaptation is not worthy of wide distribution, while others praise the director and are eager to see new works.
We can conclude from the reviews: “Under cover of night” many were puzzled, because the ending was so unexpected that it caused a lot of questions. Critics and viewers have no complaints about the acting game, on the contrary, everyone is warm enough and friendly to the work of Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal. The two main characters were able to actually show all the inner feelings, resentment and anger that hid in them for many years.
Still, the plot drives us into confusion, because the director tried to convey the coloring and the opposite of the main characters, which makes them seem absurd and inappropriate for the film. For example, Amy Adams had the image of a fatal and successful woman who always has a sense of style and elegance. Jake Gyllenhaal, on the contrary, has the image of a tired guy who, it would seem, struggled with reality, forgetting to take a shower sometimes.
The main point that made the Russian audience ask questions is the name of the film. In the original, it sounds like Nocturnal Animals, which means “nocturnal animals”. However, the Russian distributor decided to radically change the name and presented it in the form of “Under the cover of night”, because night animals are already mentioned in the film adaptation itself.
Negative and positive reviews
Firstly, the movie has a very good rating. According to data from the largest cinema site IMBD, the film received a rating of 7.5 out of 10. The Russian cinema resource showed a rating not much lower - 7.3 out of 10. This is not surprising, because before releasing the film, many details are subject to change. For example, dialogs are distorted during translation, the name does not reflect the real essence of the film.
Let's look at some conclusions based on reviews by ordinary viewers in Russia and the CIS:
- Ford changed the end of the film and decided to add flair to give the film even more mysticism and a sharp plot. Although the plot of the film adaptation is not very different from the original novel, this moment greatly spoiled the impression of watching “Under cover of night”. The film catches only partially. Here, perhaps, the feeling of Tom Ford's style played a big role, because in the picture the heroine lives life in a beautifully furnished house, she is always dressed with taste, drives comfortable cars. This plays an important role when viewing, as the viewer in some way receives aesthetic pleasure.
- The manuscript that Edward presented for reading describes characters with real characters. For example, Tony, the head of the Hastings family, is a weak and soft-haired man who could not help his family. The fear of death and danger engulfed the person, which is why Tony could neither escape, nor call for help, nor try to get rid of the criminals. His wife is a cruel man, she completely controls her husband, commands and suppresses him with her strong-willed character.
- “Under the cover of night” is a beautiful picture that was able to fit into itself several realities. The director needs to try hard so that he first confuses the viewer in reality and a fictional world, and then helps to find answers to all the questions that arise.
Summing up, we can safely call the film a male thriller, as it reveals female indifference, coldness and hatred. If you watched the film, but did not understand the ending, then the article will help you with this. Firstly, Edward did not at all try to take revenge on his ex-wife. He just wanted to show what her indifference is doing to man. Secondly, in the famous scene where Susan made an appointment with Edward, but did not wait for him, nothing special happened. It’s just that the main character decided that his excellent romance was already able to show the true face of the heroine. Thirdly, in the film, Amy Adams repeatedly mentioned that the ex-husband called the heroine a nocturnal animal. The events that take place in the manuscript personify Susan as criminals who act calmly and purposefully under cover of night, like predators in the dark.