TMW #7: Nightbitch, Unstoppable and Rumours reviewed

Plus, a look around the Dune photography exhibition, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, and a new Snow White trailer

Woof!

(Hello!)

Welcome to The Movie Wingman’s regularly Friday review round-up. This week we’re sinking our fangs into Amy Adams’ domesticated-canine dramedy Nightbitch, inspirational sports movie Unstoppable, and Cate Blanchett’s latest hard left turn, Rumours. Plus, our thoughts on the Dune photography exhibition that’s landed in London, the latest Star Wars series, the new Merchant Ivory doc and more.

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It’s a great time to join us, as our Review of 2024 (which is already underway) continues apace on Tuesday, when we’ll be revealing the next segment of our films of the year countdown and featuring another interview with a director of one of the year’s best.

And as always, if you’re enjoying what we do, please share, drop us a like, and join us in the comments!

Have a great weekend,

Matt (and Jordan and Matthew)

Reviews

Nightbitch

15, in cinemas now

⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Amy Adams and her canine co-stars in Nightbitch (Credit: Searchlight Pictures)

Life as a stay-at-home mum is rough (or should that be ‘ruff’?) in Marielle Heller’s Nightbitch. Grievously mis-sold as a body horror - the idea that Amy Adams’ ‘Mother’ is transforming into a canine of the night is the film’s least effective and most underdeveloped idea - it is more accurately a fierce lament about the isolating, mind-numbing plight of the bone-tired primary carer.

Not even afforded the dignity of a first name, Mother is raising a typical toddler - so an attention- and energy-sapping little animal. Stuck in the rut of routine, Mother has no life outside raising a little one and, as a former big-city artist, bristles at the idea of making friends with the other suburban mums at Book Babies. Compounding the problem is that Scoot McNairy’s ‘Husband’ is scarcely home, working a job that keeps him away from the house (and in peaceful hotel rooms) for days at a time. Needless to say that his complaints about long nights at a computer fall on deaf ears.

The film’s no-duh thesis is that growing a person inside your body, and then dedicating your whole being to them is really quite hard. Hard enough to drive you insane, as your identity is subsumed by a new, overriding responsibility. Penned by Heller (Diary of a Teenage Girl, A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood) from the novel by Rachel Yoder, it evinces authentic pain and rage about the burden placed on mothers to raise the next generation, and the lack of support for those struggling.

Adams - always the bridesmaid, never the bride when it comes to awards season - is excellent, nailing monologues that blaze with fiery indignation at the state of a patriarchal world, and selling Mother’s gradual descent into psychosis. There is a particularly painful scene, in which Mother goes for dinner with her art-world friends on a rare night off, and discovers in the moment that she is completely untethered from her old life.

Playing his second sad-sack dad of the year (following the rather excellent remake of Speak No Evil) Scoot McNairy is a funny, infuriating presence as Husband. He is a well-meaning but ultimately unsupportive partner, oblivious to the toll his absence is taking on Mother. As realisation turns to regret, there is a poignant recognition that neither Mother nor Husband were fully prepared for the effect a typical family dynamic would have on their relationship.

All of this works, especially if you’ve been through the pains of parenthood. But where the film falters is the gonzo gimmick promised by that sensational title - the idea that Mother is transforming into a dog. Other than an early moment in which Mother discovers a gnarly tail sprouting out of her lower back, it all feels very tame, and a rather obvious metaphor for the freedom that comes with letting go of inhibitions and embracing wild, animal instincts. Heller, an accomplished filmmaker who often brings visual flair to her films, creates moments of striking magic realism, but there isn’t enough bite where it matters. (Jordan Farley)

In short: Doesn’t deliver as a doggy body horror, but if you’re a parent you probably won’t see a film of more relatable terrors this year.

Stay for the end credits? Nothing to see here. A missed opportunity to tease Nightbitch 2: The Bitch is Back.

Does the dog die? No, but if you’re sensitive to animal deaths watch out for Chekov’s cat….

Unstoppable

12A, in cinemas now, Prime Video 16 January

⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Jharrel Jerome and Jennifer Lopez in Unstoppable (credit: Ana Carballosa/Prime)

The true story of a Philadelphia underdog, Unstoppable is cheesy, predictable and safe, but it’s also pretty darn enjoyable. Anthony Robles (Jharrel Jerome) was born with only one leg, and the film introduces him as he embarks on a college wrestling career. His disability isn’t the only obstacle he has to overcome; his mom Judy (Jennifer Lopez, relishing her best acting showcase since 2019’s Hustlers) has a deadbeat partner (Bobby Cannavale) who brings emotional and financial disruption to the household. Don’t expect any surprises on the path to the 2011 NCAA championships, but editor-turned-director William Goldenberg’s deft handle on the conventional material comfortably gets you in its hold, aided by likeable performances from Jerome, Lopez and Don Cheadle. (Cheadle, in particular, aces the casual delivery of sports-coach lines so corny they could’ve been shucked from a cob.) Bonus points for notable Philadelphia underdog Rocky getting a couple of mentions, and - fun fact - the real Robles doubles for himself for on-screen stunts. (Matt Maytum)

Rumours

15, in cinemas now

⭐⭐☆☆☆

Roy Dupuis and Cate Blanchett in Rumours (credit: Universal)

World leaders gather in the German countryside for the G7 summit in Rumours - not, before you ask, to perform the classic Fleetwood Mac album of the same name, though that wouldn’t come as a total surprise given the absurdist leanings of this lost-in-the-woods satire co-directed by Guy Maddin (The Saddest Music in the World, My Winnipeg) and regular collabs Evan and Galen Johnson. Derailed from their attempts to assemble a provisional statement addressing the (unspecified) “current crisis”, the big cheeses must contend with Iron Age zombies, AI chatbots and a giant brain pulsating among the trees for… reasons.

The lack of explanation for all the apocalyptic goings-on doesn’t irk as much as the faltering pace, uneven characterisation (Takehira Hiro’s Japanese PM barely gets a look-in) and scarcity of big laughs; you can’t help wondering how much savage fun Armando Iannucci (The Thick of It, The Death of Stalin) might have had with the basic set-up. At least the cast (including Cate Blanchett, Nikki Amuka-Bird and Roy Dupuis) are game, though another of the movie’s big mysteries is why Charles Dance’s POTUS has an accent that’s as British as afternoon tea. (Matthew Leyland)