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Nocturnal Animals

Nocturnal Animals

Drama · Thriller · 2016

Susan Morrow receives a book manuscript from her ex-husband – a man she left 20 years earlier – asking for her opinion of his writing. As she reads, she is drawn into the fictional life of Tony Hastings, a mathematics professor whose family vacation turns violent.

Movie details

Nocturnal Animals

“When you love someone you can't just throw it away.”

2016 Drama · Thriller 1h 56m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.4 / 10

Community rating

Susan Morrow receives a book manuscript from her ex-husband – a man she left 20 years earlier – asking for her opinion of his writing. As she reads, she is drawn into the fictional life of Tony Hastings, a mathematics professor whose family vacation turns violent.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Nocturnal Animals?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Natural Born Killers

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Crime · 1994

Two victims of traumatized childhoods become lovers and serial murderers irresponsibly glorified by the mass media.

Acrimony

Acrimony

Drama · 2018

Faithful wife Melinda, who is tired of standing by her devious husband Robert, is enraged when it becomes clear she has been betrayed. That's when she lost it, and now she cannot let it go.

Cape Fear

Cape Fear

Drama · 1991

Sam Bowden is a small-town corporate attorney. Max Cady is a tattooed, cigar-smoking, Bible-quoting, psychotic rapist. What do they have in common? 14 years ago, Sam was a public defender assigned to Max Cady's rape trial, and he made a serious error: he hid a document from his illiterate client that could have gotten him acquitted. Now, the cagey Cady has been released, and he intends to teach Sam Bowden and his family a thing or two about loss.

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers

Drama · 1946

Three childhood friends, Martha, Walter and Sam, share a terrible secret. Over time, the ambitious Martha and the pusillanimous Walter have married. She is a cold businesswoman; he is the district attorney: a perfect combination to dominate the corrupt city of Iverstown at will. But the unexpected return of Sam, after years of absence, deeply disturbs the life of the odd couple.

Gone Girl

Gone Girl

Mystery · 2014

With his wife's disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man sees the spotlight turned on him when it's suspected that he may not be innocent.

Back Roads

Back Roads

Crime · 2019

A young man cares for his younger sisters after their mother is imprisoned for murdering their abusive father. When he strikes up an affair with a married woman, long-dormant family secrets bubble to the surface.

Good Boy

Good Boy

Thriller · 2026

Tommy, a volatile 19-year-old, revels in drugs, parties and violence. After getting separated from his friends on a drunken bender, he is abducted by a shadowy figure. He wakes to find himself imprisoned in the basement of a remote Yorkshire house, inhabited by a very strange family. But what unfolds is not what he could possibly expect.

Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Tom Ford

Written by

Tom Ford

Amy Adams

Amy Adams

Susan Morrow

Jake Gyllenhaal

Jake Gyllenhaal

Tony Hastings / Edward Sheffield

Michael Shannon

Michael Shannon

Bobby Andes

Aaron Taylor-Johnson

Aaron Taylor-Johnson

Ray Marcus

Isla Fisher

Isla Fisher

Laura Hastings

Ellie Bamber

Ellie Bamber

India Hastings

Armie Hammer

Armie Hammer

Hutton Morrow

Court is in session

Put Nocturnal Animals on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.