If this isn't the best movie title of the year I don't know what is. When I first heard of this I was naturally intrigued by the title and the casting of Amy Adams, but really it was Marielle Heller behind the camera that really got me excited after her great work on Can you Ever Forgive Me? and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. When the premise was released I was even more intrigued, only to lead to me reading and kind of loving the book. Even as I read it though I didn't know how it could be successfully adapted, and the trailer which I'd consider pretty bad only added to my skepticism. But as many others have said, ignore that trailer, this movie is great.
To put this premise simply, a mother feeling stuck in the trappings of stay at home parenthood embraces her animalistic nature to break out of the cycle, a breakthrough spurned by her belief that she is turning into a dog. Crazy right? What are we doing here? Why is Amy Adams turning into a dog? This can't be good right? Wrong. Amy Adams shows just how strong of a performer she is as she takes this absurd premise and turns it into something pretty powerful alongside Marielle Heller. So much of the book is brilliantly metaphorical and I didn't see a world where it wouldn't come across as just goofy on screen, but Adams commits to this without an ounce of self consciousness, and Heller finds a near perfect tone between the grounded elements and the fantastical. If it weren't for her confidence as a performer I don't think audiences would buy the character, but Adams is truly special capturing the sadness and then feral nature of the character.
The film and novel use this story of a woman turning into a dog to critique the way mothers are often put in a box once they have a child. The mother played by Amy Adams is a former artist who pushed that life aside to be at home with her child while the dad played by Scoot McNairy goes to work. We see not only the exhaustion of raising a child, but also the questioning of identity that comes with dedicating your life to someone, a theme that is pretty heartbreaking. One thing I loved is that there isn't resentment for the child, the relationship between the two is really beautiful, and the kid is honestly adorable and kept making me laugh. The resentment is pointed towards societal norms, the decades of misogyny that have shaped the idea of what mothers need to be.
Scoot McNairy is great as the father, showing us the other side of the coin. He is off at work all week staying in hotels and getting good sleep toddler-free, then comes home on weekends and doesn't really know how to pull his weight. There are so many times he says something and as a viewer following Adams for most of the film you can't help but cringe. Some of these are as innocent as asking for help giving the kid a bath, but in the context of watching motherhood drive Amy Adams wild there's a really great sense of dramatic irony.
From a filmmaking standpoint there isn't much noteworthy aside from the performances and script. There are moments of pretty strong cinematography but nothing to write home about, but the editing is a consistent strength. One area I wanted more is that I wished it got weirder. It's definitely a weird movie but it could have gone crazier and I would have loved that. Regardless I enjoyed it a ton, it's a very clever look at motherhood and Adams gives a truly fearless performance. 4/5
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