Amy Adams looked effervescent in a sleeveless midnight black gown while celebrating her 2024 thriller Nightbitch, which had its U.K. premiere on Oct. 16, 2024, at the London Film Festival.
The Oscar-nominated actor appeared in a shoulderless Prada dress with director Marielle Heller to promote their baffling film, which follows a mother convinced she’s turning into a dog as the pressures of family life stack up.
While the trailer was met with confusion and amusement, those who’ve the movie praise its wonderfully weird approach to the loss of identity after giving birth. It’s based on the 2021 novel by Rachel Yoder, which explores the psychological and physical toll of motherhood through a canine allegory.
Credited as “Mother,” Adams’ character gave up her career to raise her son. Four years into her new life as a stay-at-home mother, she realizes she has become the most animalistic, instinct-driven version of herself.
“Part of the brilliance of Nightbitch,” Entertainment Weekly‘s Maureen Lee Lenker said in her review, “is the ways it doesn’t stop at showcasing the isolation and loneliness of motherhood, cut off from a previous version of oneself and one’s life. It takes this fable a step further.”
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Adams said she thought the novel was “unique and otherworldly, and like nothing I’d ever read before.” She added, “The thing I really attached to is this idea of loss of identity.” Heller backed the statement, saying, “When people ask me what the movie is about, I’m like, ‘It’s about motherhood and rage. And you either get that or you don’t.”
While the fruitless Oscar hunt has led Adams to some dark places (Hillbilly Elegy), it’s also led her to pick unique projects and display her range. Arrival is one of the best sci-fi movies ever, Nocturnal Animals presented her at her iciest extremes, and The Woman in the Window proved she’s entertaining even in trainwrecks.
Going further back yields more diverse roles, with a surprisingly endearing turn as Lois Lane in Zack Snyder’s DC Universe the only time she opted for big franchises instead of left-field opportunities.
The standout of the 2010s was Sharp Objects, the mini-series from renowned author Gillian Flynn and the late and great filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée. Her turn as a self-harming alcoholic wrestling with generational trauma was unforgettable.
No matter the outcome — and let’s be honest, Adams has had a rough go of it with some of her project choices — she’s a reliable performer who consistently surprises with her range. While her bright blue eyes, silky red hair, and soft stature give the illusion she’s best placed in more delicate roles, Adams has shown she’s capable of much more bite than that.