Welcome to Knockout Horror. We are still catching up on some of the late 2024 horror movies we missed due to covering Christmas themed films. One of which is Marielle Heller’s Nightbitch. Before we break this movie down, I have to say, what an absolutely awful title. It plays into the plot a little bit but it is just so horrendously awkward and indicative of some of the weird scripting issues that this movie deals with.

Nightbitch follows the story of a new mother (Amy Adams) as she attempts to adapt to life as a stay at home parent. Giving up her art career; she now spends her days attending baby-mother meets, cooking meals, shopping for groceries, and looking after the home. As she begins to feel more and more jaded, she starts to notice changes in her body and new animal urges that she struggles to understand.

Adams plays a character caught between her parental demands and animal urges. Ill at ease in her position and poorly supported by her dork of a husband (Scoot McNairy) who simply doesn’t understand her. Her desire to unleash her wild side and roam free manifests in her transformation into a fluffy canine. Complete with a propensity to maim the local wildlife and a stark dislike of cats.

A Worn Out Formula

As you can probably guess, this is your standard “person is unsatisfied with their life, goes through a journey with vague metaphorical horror tropes before, ultimately, coming to some sort of conclusion about their new identity one way or the other” type of thing. This has been done to death in recent years, within horror. Baby Ruby is one example, from 2022, and Huesera: The Bone Woman followed a short while later.

A screenshot from comedy horror Nightbitch (2024)

Most of these movies play on the “metaphorical monster” blueprint set out by films like The Babadook and most feel fairly similar. Nightbitch is no exception; the focus just happens to be on identity changes, body horror, and a lot more comedy, rather than the altogether more serious approach of the aforementioned films.

At the risk of repeating myself from other reviews of similar films. It is an important topic. The expectations placed on new parents, mothers in particular, and the massive life changes they experience, as well as the societal demands placed upon them, are incredibly significant. It’s a topic ripe for picking when it comes to story telling and, when done well, it can be very effective. Huesera is a perfect example. It is inciteful, clever, moving and, above all else when it comes to this genre, scary. Nightbitch is, really, none of those things.

Derivative and Dull

This is a movie that brings, literally, nothing new to this overpacked table. In fact, I’m not really sure why Heller was content with putting out such a derivative product. Nightbitch feels wholly unoriginal and, almost, inspires a feeling of Deja vu. I really don’t feel as if this is a movie that brings anything new to the genre. It’s something of a shame because it starts pretty strong. Amy Adams is fantastic and crafts a character that is both incredibly relatable and very likable. The script is pretty strong and the movie is genuinely funny for the first thirty minutes, or so.

It is around this point, however, that things start to get a little repetitive. The humour reveals itself to be very one note with the script attempting to garner laughs with the same basic plot points from earlier in the movie. The story feels like it is going nowhere and the movie begins to repeat itself. It’s almost as if it gets lost and doesn’t quite know where it wants to go or what it wants to be.

Does it want to be a comedy drama? It is trying to be a horror? Does it want to be a deep drama with an important message? It’s hard to tell because it feels so confused. It does feel, however, like a long form tautology with the movie finding multiple ways to say the same thing thanks to a very repetitious script. About halfway through, I checked the time believing the movie to be coming to a close only to realise there was over 40 minutes left. At that point, it was very hard to see where it could go. The answer? Nowhere, it really doesn’t go anywhere at all.

Another Non-Horror

Nightbitch gets the “horror” and “body horror” tag but, in reality, there is virtually nothing here to please horror fans. We have one moment that is, somewhat, wince inducing and there is the vague suggestion of horror themes. In reality, however, it seems that any desire for Nightbitch to actually be a horror movie disappears very early on, adding to the confused feeling of the film. At a push, I would say this is a drama in the vein of Blue My Mind and other similar titles that sometimes find themselves mislabelled as horror.

Much like the equally dull Baby Ruby, this is one of those movies that would be completely ignored against a backdrop of far superior dramas. Throwing in a few elements that could be, vaguely, classed as horror is a great way to get these inferior movies a bigger and, let’s be real, less demanding audience. Don’t expect fantastic transformations or horrible mutations in Nightbitch. It’s far closer to the 90’s UK kid’s show Woof than it is to An American Werewolf in London.

The drama leaning wouldn’t be such a big problem if it didn’t feel so damn unauthentic. This is one of those movies that tries to push an important, and poignant, narrative before tying things up in an overly saccharin manner reminiscent of romcoms and Hallmark Christmas movies. It feels so false and prosthetic. The movie engages in a number of moments of character monologuing and the writing is extremely basic. Almost like a high school English project. Adding to the inauthentic feel of the narrative.

Should You Watch Nightbitch?

The first 30 minutes, or so, of Nightbitch are held up by a brilliant performance from Amy Adams and a fairly witty script. After that, however, the movie falls apart. Becoming incredibly dull, losing direction and repeating itself frequently. The horror themes are, almost, non-existent, the plot is incredibly derivative and the movie feels very inauthentic. There’s just very little to recommend outside of a stellar performance by the always great Adams. If you are looking for horror with a similar theme but much better execution and far more scares, check out Huesera: The Bone Woman. There is no real reason to watch Nightbitch.