NIGHTBITCH Trailer (2024) Amy Adams, Scoot McNairy

NIGHTBITCH Trailer (2024) Amy Adams, Scoot McNairy

NIGHTBITCH Trailer (2024) Amy Adams, Scoot McNairy
© 2024 - Searchlight Pictures

Nightbitch is a 2024 American comedy horror film written and directed by Marielle Heller, based on the 2021 novel by Rachel Yoder.[1] It stars Amy Adams in the lead role alongside Scoot McNairy, Arleigh Patrick Snowden, Emmett James Snowden, Zoë Chao, Mary Holland, Ella Thomas, Archana Rajan, and Jessica Harper in supporting roles.

Nightbitch premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, on September 7, 2024,[2] and will be released theatrically in the United States by Searchlight Pictures on December 6, 2024.[3]

Premise
The film concerns a magical realism-style story of a stay-at-home mom who sometimes transforms into a dog.

Cast
Amy Adams as Mother
Scoot McNairy as Husband
Arleigh Snowden and Emmett Snowden as Son
Zoë Chao as Jen
Mary Holland as Miriam
Ella Thomas as Naya
Archana Rajan as Liz
Jessica Harper as Norma
Adrienne Rose White as Sally
Roslyn Gentle
Stacey Swift
Darius De La Cruz
Production
Development
In July 2020, Annapurna Pictures acquired the film rights to the then-unpublished Nightbitch, written by Rachel Yoder, with Amy Adams attached to star and produce.[4] Stacy O'Neil of Adams' Bond Group Entertainment production company will co-produce the film alongside Megan Ellison, Sue Naegle and Sammy Scher, while Yoder would serve as executive producer.[5] Can You Ever Forgive Me? filmmaker Marielle Heller connected with Yoder's novel and began to quietly develop the film alongside Adams during the COVID-19 pandemic.[6]

Pre-production
In March 2022, filming was scheduled to begin in the fall of that year.[7] In May, Searchlight Pictures acquired distribution rights from Annapurna for $25 million, winning out from five other bidders.[8] At this time, Heller's involvement was officially confirmed. Christina Oh, Adam Paulsen, and Heller had boarded the film as producers, while Scher moved to executive producer with Havilah Brewster.[9] On June 27, 2022, Scoot McNairy joined the film.[10][11]

Filming
Production was intended to begin in September 2022 in Los Angeles.[12] It began in October 2022, with the announcement that Ella Thomas[13] had joined the cast.[14][15] On October 21, 2022, Mary Holland joined the cast.[16] Zoë Chao was also confirmed to be in the cast.[17]

Release
Nightbitch was originally set to be released on Hulu,[18][19] but was later announced for a theatrical release by Searchlight Pictures for December 6, 2024.[20] It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 2024.[21]

Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 64% of 44 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6/10.[22] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 62 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[23]

Accolades
Award/Festival Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
Sitges Film Festival October 13, 2024 Best Motion Picture Nightbitch Pending [24][25]
Montclair Film Festival October 27, 2024 Director Award Marielle Heller Honored [26][27]
Chicago International Film Festival October 27, 2024 Visionary Award Honored [28]

Amy Adams isn’t shying away from revealing her “Nightbitch” nature.

The Oscar nominee leads the adaptation based on 2021 Rachel Yoder’s novel of the same name, written and directed by Marielle Heller. The film centers around a woman who pauses her career to be a stay-at-home mom, but soon her new domesticity takes a surreal turn.

“Nightbitch” was first announced in 2020 before the novel’s 2021 release. The novel description includes that Adam’s titular protagonist is an unnamed woman and former artist who grapples with parenting her two-year-old son with her absent husband (Scoot McNairy). Soon she becomes worried she’s turning into a dog while her husband travels full-time for his work.

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The description includes: “As her symptoms intensify, she struggles to keep her alter-canine-identity secret. Finally jolted to action after an impulsive and disastrous encounter with the family cat, she seeks a cure for her condition in an herbal multi-level marketing scheme, a group of mommies all inexplicably named Jen, and Wanda White, a mysterious academic specializing in ‘mythical ethnography.'”

The feature is an Annapurna Pictures production in partnership with Archer Gray, Defiant by Nature, and Bond Group Entertainment. “Nightbitch” is produced by writer/director Heller, actress Adams, Anne Carey, Sue Naegle, Christina Oh, and Stacy O’Neil.

Heller formerly helmed features “The Diary of a Teenage Girl,” “Can You Ever Forgive Me?,” and “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.” She also appeared as an actress playing Anya Taylor-Joy’s adoptive mother in “Queen’s Gambit.”

Heller said in a press statement that adapting “Nightbitch” was reminiscent of first encountering “The Diary of a Teenage Girl” novel, saying the project was a “dream come true.”

Actress/producer Adams has partnered with Annapurna Pictures for “The Master,” “American Hustle,” and “Vice,” all of which landed her Oscar nominations, as well as “Her.” Despite originally being billed as a Hulu streaming release in 2022, “Nightbitch” will in fact debut in theaters.

Next, Adams will lead Taika Waititi’s novel adaptation of “Klara and the Sun” alongside Jenna Ortega. Author Kazuo Ishiguro will executive produce the film that follows an Artificial Friend named Klara (Ortega) designed to prevent loneliness. A mother (Adams) and her ill teenage daughter, Josie, purchase Klara, and the robot makes it her mission to save Josie and those who love her from heartbreak. In the process, Klara learns the power of human love.

“Nightbitch” premieres December 6 in theaters from Searchlight. Check out the trailer below.

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Marielle Heller
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Trailers
Its a dog-eat-dog world for “Nightbitch” at TIFF.

Marielle Heller’s long-awaited dramedy had its world premiere on Saturday at the Toronto International Film Festival, exactly five years after her previous film, “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” debuted at the Canadian fest. Heller was joined by producers, author Rachel Yoder (whose book the film is based on) and stars Amy Adams and Scoot McNairy. Twin child actors Arleigh Patrick Snowden and Emmett James, who collectively play the role of the “son,” charmed the audience with stuffed dogs and a message: “We hope you enjoy the movie.”

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Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures
“Nightbitch” follows an unnamed mother played by Adams who pauses her career as an artist to be a stay-at-home mom. Two years into motherhood, her domesticity begins to take a surreal turn.

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“One of the wonderful explorations of the film is this isolation that comes from [having children], and the transformation of motherhood and parenthood is something that is a shared experience, and yet it isn’t shared,” Adams remarked during the Q&A section after the film. “So, it’s such a gift to get to be a part of sharing that with you all, and getting to share it through the process of creation of making the film.”

The film, which explores the strange transformation of Adams’ character as she may be turning into a dog, generated laughter but also audible reactions during graphic scenes of tail-cutting, menstruating in the shower and the murder of a house cat. While the film is set to open in a prime awards slot, Adams, with her six Oscar nominations, may be barking up the wrong tree with “Nightbitch,” which has received a rather “ruff” response.

Searchlight Pictures will likely place its awards season focus on other projects, including Jesse Eisenberg’s emotionally moving drama “A Real Pain,” starring Kieran Culkin, and the highly anticipated Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown,” directed by James Mangold and featuring Timothée Chalamet as the folk music legend.

“Nightbitch” is set to open in theaters on Dec. 6.

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amy adams, Nightbitch, Toronto Film Festival