Warning: this article contains spoilers for Nightbitch.
Amy Adams‘ performance in Nightbitch is something miraculous. Adapted from the novel by Marielle Heller, the film sees a new mum (Adams) overcome by a feral instinct and – whether we see it as literally or figuratively – she turns into a dog.
What Amy’s Mother also does, though, is depict the desperate, lonely, joyous story of motherhood – as well as the misogyny that a patriarchal society attaches to a woman and her body, particularly when she becomes a parent.
From the irritatingly sexist responses we see from Mother’s Husband (Scoot McNairy), who is what we could call a “Nice Guy” with some seriously internalised misogyny, to the exposure of the inequality in parenting teams and the needed empowerment through admitting that no mother is perfect, Nightbitch goes much deeper than just a mother’s metamorphosis into an animal. It takes on the patriarchy.
GLAMOUR has pulled together the 8 most impactful moments where Nightbitch highlights the misogynistic norms that surround women’s bodies and their experiences of motherhood.
The moment where Mother is judged by the way she eats in public
Mother’s metamorphosis into a dog begins with her habit of playing “dog” games with her toddler son. This entails giving him a dog bed to sleep in, making growl noises and – eventually – encouraging him to eat with his hands and gobble up his food like a dog in public. When Mother follows suit, letting herself go and giving into a more feral nature in a cafeteria, she is met with snooty looks by men and women alike.
We’re not saying eating messily in public is necessarily the thing to do, but the judgment we see on Mother in Nightbitch is consistent with the pressure on women, particularly mothers, to appear outwardly perfect and graceful at all times, even during such a chaotic period as early motherhood.
©Searchlight Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
The moment where Mother’s husband is grossed out by her graphic description of periods
Warning: we’re going to give Mother’s husband a hard time. But honestly, he’s not a bad person necessarily. He just represents what the patriarchy demands of women. Like when he disturbs Mother’s much-delayed shower to tell her they’re out of milk. The anger basically boils out of her when she suggests he goes to get it himself – an idea he has not considered apparently, seeing as he assumes that it’s her role alone to keep track of the groceries, as well as the life of their young child.
