Uncover the Fascinating Tale of a Mother's Unlikely Metamorphosis

Character and Setting

Our story begins with the mother, who, along with her unnamed husband, 2-year-old son, and criminally neglected cat, lives in a nice movie house in a leafy suburban neighborhood. Unhappy with day care, the mother has decided to stay home, but it's not going as smoothly as she had hoped. Their toddler is a bundle of energy and need, adding to the mother's challenges.

Before her great transformation, the mother's awakening is marked by strange physical changes. Her canine teeth seem to be getting sharper, and her body hairier. She's puzzled but also intrigued by these changes, while her husband seems oblivious to it all.

The Mother's Interior Life

Heller's previous works have explored the lives of women, and in "Nightbitch", she retains the novel's claustrophobic intimacy. The mother's interior life proves far more interesting than her material reality. We see this through visual repetition, as Heller underscores the monotony of her dawn-to-dusk life with shot after shot of her frying breakfast and reading bedtime stories.

To allow us to get into the character's head, Heller translates passages from the book's stream-of-consciousness narration into voice-over. This creates some nice comedy, especially when her spoken utterances contrast with her unvarnished, panicky thoughts. It becomes clear that most people, including her husband, don't really listen to what she says or think.

The Surreal Turn

The story takes a surreal turn when the mother pierces the cyst on her back with a needle. This visceral and entertaining moment shifts the movie into body-horror territory as milky liquid oozes out. Then, she pulls a wispy tail out of the cyst, and the movie slips into magical realism.

After this, the mother gives the cat the side eye and chases a squirrel with her toddler in tow. One evening, while her husband is away and the boy is asleep, she finally changes into a floofy dog with a luxuriant tail. She finds a pack and runs wild, embarking on a new chapter in her life.