In the end, Nocturnal Animals barely feels like a film made by a human being. You could just dub it a “stylish exercise” and call it a day. But I just can’t shake the fact that Ford somehow wants it to be more. The movie feels glazed and remote, a surface with all the identifying fingerprints polished off. What would it look like if Ford had left them on?
-Stephanie Zacharek, TIME
The somewhat enigmatic ending of the film annoyed some of the people around me at the press screening — and I confess I’ll probably need to sit with it for a while to fully understand what Ford was going for with it — but “Nocturnal Animals” packs a real punch and confirms that “A Single Man” was no fluke.
-Alonso Duralde, THE WRAP
I included the first quote because it’s frustrating. And the second quote because I want this piece to help clarify the end of Nocturnal Animals.
A lot of viewers and critics have rightly pointed out the metaphor that is Edward Sheffield’s novel. The story of Tony Hastings represents how Edward felt about what happened between him and Susan (Amy Adams)—another man came and took Susan from him. Content aside, our main clue is that Jake Gyllenhaal plays both Edward and Tony.
In the film’s middle, Susan has flashbacks to her time with Edward, when they were in their 20s. During one flashback, she reads a draft of a story and tells Edward that he needs to not write about himself. Which could seem harsh but… Think about where he was and who he was at the time: a struggling writer in NYC. Given her criticism, he probably had been writing about a struggling writer in NYC. That can work, but it’s also…too easy. And has been done to death.
At this point, two or so decades later, Edward has managed to write about himself in a way that would, to anyone who didn’t know him, seem completely fictional. That is, to me, absolutely a sign of mastery—when you can make the real into the surreal and the surreal resonate with someone else’s reality.
Ostensibly, Edward’s using the story of Tony to not only express and exorcise the pain he felt at losing Susan but also fantasize about the revenge he would take on her husband/his replacement, Hutton Morrow (Armie Hammer). The novel is an act of catharsis, as most art is.
With that said, let’s dive into that enigmatic final scene.
The ending
Susan has asked Edward to get dinner with her. Edward says some nice guy thing in the vein of, “Name the time and place and I’m there”. We see Susan get dressed up. She does her make-up. Then she arrives at the restaurant. This fancy, fancy place. She enters. The sever sits her at an empty table.
She waits.
Has a drink.
Waits more.
We hear a hostess say, “This way, sir,” and Susan smiles, thinking it’s Edward, but the person goes to another table. Time passes. The tables clear. She drinks more. And Edward never shows up. THE END.
There are two meanings to take away from this ending. Let’s start with what might be the simpler of the two.
Edward’s novel was a classic revenge plot that the 90s and Mel Gibson would be proud of. You’ve probably seen a revenge movie before. The Crow, I Spit On Your Grave, Kill Bill, Payback, Braveheart, Apocalypto, Mad Max, Edge of Darkness, The Lion King, Taken. Essentially, in the first 20 minutes someone is killed or kidnapped or the main character gets attacked and left for dead or barely escapes a murder attempt. The main character ends up being really sad, then decides to get revenge. Most of the narrative deals with the machinations of revenge, usually ending with the main character winning and moving on, or winning then dying, or winning and reuniting with whoever was kidnapped.
In reality, most of us won’t, can’t, and don’t seek physical payback. If my girlfriend cheats on me with some jerk, I’m going to write a mean text message, delete her from Facebook, be sad, drink a lot of milkshakes, and that’s that. I may hate them, but I’m not going to slash either of their tires or steal his dog or even fight him. That’s why revenge stories can make for such great cinema or literature. We get to safely and vicariously experience someone else taking violent retribution against people so evil they deserve it. Those stories tap into not only the anger we’ve felt at some point in our life but also the powerlessness.
Nocturnal Animals actually juxtaposes the difference between revenge in fiction and revenge in reality. By having the novel-within-a-movie it makes Susan’s and Edward’s “reality” seem closer to our own, and Tony’s all the more distant. Tony’s story deals with this very emotional and heightened tale of terror, survival, and revenge. Where all we see with Susan is her at work, at a boring party, sitting at home, her at work again, a lot of baths, and then alone at a restaurant.
Edward’s character Tony can end up murdering the killer of his wife and daughter, since Tony is a work of fiction. But all Edward (who, in the movie, is “real” when compared to Tony) gets to do is write a book, send it to his ex, and then stand her up. Compare how one makes you feel to how the other makes you feel. For most of us, Tony’s form of vengeance is visceral and feels like justice. Where Edwards is kind of petty, especially when we know how awful Susan already feels about her life. It’s just another loss for Susan. Edward’s act is far less dramatic. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t satisfying.
If Nocturnal Animals‘s theme of revenge wasn’t evident enough in Edward’s novel, we have the scene where Susan’s at work and stops before a giant picture that says:
Cinema has always been a medium of symbolic meaning, and here that symbolism is pretty strong. It not only reinforces that this is a film about revenge but offers a suggestion for how we should look at the act. Not as a singular thing, but as something fractured and protracted. It’s kind of fitting that the final “e” is alone. [Originally, the article didn’t have the picture. Instead, I had relied on my memory of the letter arrangement, thinking the E was alone at the end and presenting a visual recreation of the word, REV ENG E. Thanks to Joe L for e-mailing me a correction].
It may not seem all that climactic that Edward stood Susan up. But Susan is miserable. Her marriage sucks. We see she gets no joy from her job. She doesn’t sleep. Her daughter is off somewhere. It feels like she isn’t living in a house so much as a mausoleum. The one moment of joy we see her have is when she thought her and Hutton might go to the beach. Then Hutton shuts her down and leaves for NYC to spend time with some other woman. Because Susan’s life is so miserable, she ends up seeking refuge in Edward’s novel, because Edward’s novel is a connection to Edward, which is a connection to something outside of her current life. That’s why we get those flashbacks. She’s caught up in the nostalgia of her relationship with Edward, what had been, what could have been, and what wasn’t.
So when Edward agrees to meet Susan, that’s like…the first meaningful thing that’s happened for her in the movie. We can tell she’s hopeful. Through her flashbacks, we know she saw Edward as the nice guy, the sensitive soul. After she’s spent around two decades with Mr. Business Man, building this empty, debilitating life…Edward is such a promise of warmth, of humanity. And here she’s read this book that is so obviously about how much the loss of her crushed him. That means he must still love her, right?
So as she puts on her green dress, puts on the make up, prepares to go meet Edward, she must have such a sense of…hope. But beyond that, satisfaction. Early in the movie, she tells Hutton that Edward never re-married and that’s sad. We can tell she pities Edward. He loved her. She left him, broke him. In her mind she’s always had the power over Edward. She even inspired this great work of fiction, a book dedicated to her and her alone, even titled after the nickname she had because she could never fall asleep. She must think she’s going to do Edward a favor by having dinner with him.
Imagine the ego boost that must have been for her?
If, at that dinner, Edward had told her to run away with him…she might have.
Except Edward never shows up. And that crushes Susan, because it destroys the fantasy she had. The one where she still meant something to Edward. Where she still meant something to anyone. Without Edward she has no one. At least before he reached out to her, she could think to herself that, no matter how bad things were with Hutton, at least one person out there still desired her.
With that context, Edward not showing up is actually brutal. It’s not the physical act of vengeance most of us crave. It’s the much more diabolical mental and spiritual fatality, that “I’m going to take away every last bit of hope you have and leave you with absolutely nothing so that life has no meaning to you whatsoever. Fuck you.”
And that’s where we get into what’s probably the more complicated dynamic of the final scene.
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Through Edward’s arc, Nocturnal Animals gets at the role emotion plays in creating art and the role creating art plays in emotion.
When Edward was happy with his life, his writing was, according to Susan’s judgment, mediocre. And it seems from the success she eventually had in the world of art that she had a strong eye. After Susan destroyed Edward’s heart, he used that pain, transmuting the very common and mundane acts of infidelity and divorce that happened in NYC into a thrilling revenge narrative set in West Texas. That’s the inspiring role emotion plays in creating art.
After writing the novel, Edward sends it to Susan, the first communication they’ve had in years. He felt empowered to do that. He felt so empowered that he then stood Susan up. Where Susan saw the book as a statement of how much Edward still cared about her, the novel was actually a sign that Edward had finally come to terms with what had happened between them. All those emotions inside of him became words on a page. That’s the cathartic role creating art plays in emotion.
Creating art draws from the abstract and ethereal and complicated sea of emotion inside of us and pours that emotion into a form outside of us. That’s one of the powers of art, to help us not only process our emotions but to get rid of them. It’s like when you finally take the time to do the dishes that have been piling up, to take out the garbage, wash those clothes, and throw out some of the things you know you haven’t needed or wanted for years. After doing those things, the sense of relief is massive. You feel a weight is off your shoulders and your home looks better and feels better to exist in.
Except Susan doesn’t have that. Multiple times, Susan says that she isn’t creative, that she can’t create. That’s why she switched from being an art major to art history. That’s why she manages a gallery and helps other artists. She can’t express her feelings. All of her fear, her pain, her stress, etc., it all stays inside of her. When it became too much with Edward, she bolted for Hutton. And even though she has all this money, all this success, she’s miserable. She has no means of catharsis. For anything she feels. That’s the equivalent of never cleaning the dishes, of never taking the trash out, and never washing clothes. What would that home look like?
This is why she can’t sleep, why she is a nocturnal animal. There’s too much on her mind.
So where Edward could work through his emotions and find, eventually, closure…that probably won’t happen for Susan. In all likelihood, things will not improve for her. Which makes Nocturnal Animals an existential revenge film. Edward doesn’t physically hurt Susan. He just destroys any hope she had for her still finding happiness.
Alonso was right to say Nocturnal Animals “packs a punch”. It’s as much a story of triumph as it is one of annihilation of the spiritual realm, the realm of heart and soul and psyche. That does take time to process, to unpack and appreciate. And that’s why the first quote frustrated me so much. There’s nothing glazed or remote or barely human about Nocturnal Animals. It’s dealing with the core of what humanizes and dehumanizes us, of the forces that erode and those which heal.
Update: The Concept of Forgiveness
I talked with my friend and fellow film fanatic, Jo Ro, and she made a great point about Susan, one that Vela Roland and Shakira Wade also discussed in the comments (see the bottom of the page). I had completely missed the concept of forgiveness and closure in Nocturnal Animals.
It’s funny because there’s an interview Tom Ford did where he said that he thought the film’s ending signified change and hope for Susan. At the time, I had laughed because it seemed ridiculous. I had already written this article about how tragic the end was. I had legitimately thought, “If that’s what Ford was going for, I don’t think he hit his mark.” But then talks with Jo and comments like Vela’s and Shakira’s really echoed what Ford had said.
I had initially viewed Susan reminiscing about the rise and fall of her relationship with Edward as a means of romanticizing what they had in order to being transitioning from her dead life with Hutton to a rekindled love with Edward. I saw it as an act of an unhappy person who operated like a hermit crab, moving from one shell to another. That’s why the end of the movie would be so tragic—Susan now had no where to go. Hutton didn’t want her. And the first love she thought could recapture…also a no go.
But the reminiscing isn’t just romanticizing the past, it’s understanding the pain you caused someone and feeling guilty about that pain. In that context, Susan isn’t reaching out to Edward for validation or hope for a rekindled romance—all she wants is to alleviate the guilt. She doesn’t want to feel responsible for having broken him or ruined him. So her e-mails aren’t necessarily romantic gestures. They would be an olive branch. Same with the dinner. It’s not about her wooing Edward, it’s about apologizing, seeing he’s okay, and finding closure. The same kind of closure we see Tony trying to gain in Edward’s novel.
Edward not showing up becomes a bittersweet victory for Susan. On the one hand, it’s brutal because she’s been stood up. On the other hand, it’s Edward’s first relatively cruel act to Susan. He had the confidence and the backbone to stand her up. He wasn’t weak. As petty of an action as that is, it’s a strong action for Edward to take and something that Edward 20 years ago would have never done. Add this in with him having written a novel Susan found impressive…and it seems like Edward has moved on to a new chapter. One where he doesn’t need her. The assumption here is that Susan can forgive herself, because even though she hurt Edward…she didn’t destroy him. He’s alive. He’s writing. He’s confident enough to stand her up. That’s enough for Susan to find closure in what happened between them. No longer worried about her past, Susan has the potential to focus on improving her present.
I think most of us can relate to that on some level. Forgiveness and closure, together, can be great. But getting forgiveness doesn’t always mean you get closure, and getting closure doesn’t always mean getting forgiveness.
Update 2: Romantic Interest?
After my first update, Barkley Obar commented about Susan removing her wedding ring and still dressing up for her dinner with Edward. Barkley saw these as signs of romantic interest, not just in forgiveness. I agree with that.
In the first Update, I had meant to show there’s an argument to be made for reading the end as Susan dealing with forgiveness and guilt. Instead, it seems more like I changed my stance entirely. Not the case. I think the truth is somewhere between my initial woo-and-doom scenario and the guilt-forgiveness situation.
I think if Edward had shown up and been his charming self, told Susan he still loves her, asked her to leave with him—she would have. I think she did have expectations that something could happen between them. But reality dashed that hope. Edward is done with her. His “you can’t get it back again” line proved prophetic. Yes, Susan would be saddened by this and hurt by this, however I no longer see her as totally doomed. I think she does have a better sense of closure, and while Edward hasn’t forgiven her, the novel puts to rest what had transpired between them. I think she probably does feel a weight off her shoulders. With her wedding ring removed, we could extrapolate she’ll leave Hutton and draw on some inner strength she’s denied herself because of her guilt? Or she could still be doomed. I’m okay with the vagueness because I think that’s part of interacting with art—we supply some of the meaning. Depending on your own life, you could read the end as hopeful. You could read the end as tragic. You could think Edward killed himself and Susan will do the same. The important thing at this point isn’t the right answer. It’s your answer. And the fact that the end could mean something new and important to you every year of your life. That’s pretty cool.
I think you mean REV ENG E: revenge. Not REV GEN E: revgene. *Unless you remembered it spelled incorrectly in the film*
Haha, oh man. That’s been there for so long. Thank you! Just a dumb typo.
I thought Noctrnal Animals was so gripping, sad, disappointing ending though. Great acting. JV
Same! Did you have a favorite moment?
Great read.
Thanks, Anthony!
I second that. Great read. I watched Nocturnal Animajs for the first time last night but was too lazy and impatient to let the movie sit with me for a few days or a week or so and really let the implications gel for me. The ending was unexpected as it was counter to what we’d seen of Edward’s nature in Susan’s flashbacks, and I felt a strong sense of uncertainty and dissatisfaction with it, like traveling halfway across the country in a green family truckster just to have Marty Moose tell you Wally World is closed. Really good movie, I feel like it will remain with me awhile—in no small part thanks to your analysis. Cheers ?
I felt that since Tony’s life arc was mimicking Edward’s arc, wouldn’t it be fair to assume that edward killed himself? There was some significance in the slowing heartbeat when tony was dying and Susan could hear it slowing in the bathtub?
And there must be some significance in the papercut Susan gets when opening Edwards package?
Hey Julie! I think you can definitely build an argument around that interpretation. My counter-point would be that it seemed Tony’s life arc was mimicking Edward’s past, not his present. Which is why I didn’t make the connection between Tony dying and Edward killing himself. Moreso, it was that Edward had to kill that part of himself who had loved Susan.
I’d say the significance of the slowing heartbeat could be a sign of how invested in the story Susan was. That for her it was beyond words on a page. It was something she could truly experience, which is why it was so impactful. That’s such a huge part of the movie—Edward’s book is more than a book to her.
With the paper cut, my best theory, at the moment, and this could change, is it’s symbolic foreshadowing for how the story will “cut” her because it’s based on her. I’m very open minded about other interpretations. At the moment, nothing else jumps out to me. It seems more of a tone-setting choice to me rather than being a more important detail.
Any other thoughts or questions?
I just found out about this film this evening while listening to Alex Korzeniowski’s music online, and I am glad that I did. My first impression of the ending was “sadness,” especially when the camera panned to a close-up of her eyes. Remember, Edward distinctly told Susan he felt she had “sad” eyes. They didn’t just gloss over that, but took their time to express what he felt her eyes represented. “Beautiful, but sad,” just like her mother…and in the end didn’t she end up just like her mother. Another thought crossed my mind, being a woman who has been in a similar situation. When a man is still in love with a woman it is difficult for him go back to that place for fear of being hurt or rejected again. Unless, he senses the woman “needs or wants” him he is less likely to put himself out there, and much more likely to shine her on and act like he could care less by standing her up the way Edward did Susan. Edward had the ability to “gloat” from a distance, sticking the knife in her back this time, giving him REVENGE…Why did he want revenge? Edward wanted revenge because he still wasn’t over it yet. That final act of cruelty was all the satisfaction Edward needed to FINALLY move on and let the past pain and sorrows disappear. The ending for me was a bit abrupt and unfinished, leaving you wondering…
That close up of the eyes was a great moment. I remember being in the theater, seeing that shot, and pleading (silently of course) that he never showed up just to not ruin the power of that shot and her emotion in that moment.
Really appreciate you sharing your own experiences, June! I agree with how you’re framing everything. There’s some satisfaction in writing the novel, but it’s not the same as the kind of petty act Edward (may have) pulled by standing Susan up.
How do you feel the abortion played into it all? I felt as though the fictional family, obviously the daughter, being taken from him was somewhat symbolic. Great movie.
Especially since we see the daughter begging for her father in the back window. But we don’t see the wife.
Yo! Yeah, I think you’re write on about the daughter being taken being symbolic. The structure of the movie is such that they hide the abortion until near the end, giving it the weight of a climactic moment. With that being the intention, I think it’s safe to say they wanted to show how the abortion was a huuuuuuuuuge deal. It’s poetically painful, because when the fictional daughter dies, we think have the safety of knowing, “Well at least it isn’t real.” But then when we find out about the abortion….it’s a gut punch to the viewer, which mirrors the shock Edward also felt.
I think you missed something. She never goes through with the abortion. She has a beautiful daughter (also with red hair, like the fictional family of Tony) Edward lost his daughter and Susan in real life and The book is a metaphor for that. Not showing up at dinner was to say … I’m not weak anymore
Yes, but she had a daughter in real life, same age as in novel. Edward’s child or Hutton’s?
I feel the abortion had a lot of subliminal or “other” precursors to the storyline itself.. somehow I see the abortion significantly tying in with the entire plot/story.. Also the part where Edward is referred to as “too weak” by her mother and I believe, by Susan herself, is signified several times within the book…🤔
Hmmm. It is extremely difficult to analyze a single scenario regarding the meaning, or interpretation of the movie and the ending.. I guess that is what makes it pretty decent, as there is no “politically“ correct answer, as it’s up to your imagination to assume what is what and that’s where the whole art theme itself is tied in. Interesting indeed…
She seemed somewhat forgetful too. I’m unsure if it was due to lack of sleep or???
But the scene where she sees the “REVENGE” display and the girl who shows her the baby on her phone with her new app, etc., reminds her (Susan) that she gave it or sent it to them as a gift, of sorts.. Then Susan drops phone and stands there seemingly not recalling doing such.. So I thought maybe Edward sent it to them saying it making it appear as it was from Susan, which all tied into the storyline in his book???
I don’t know??
Many if’s…
I’m surprised you didn’t mention the connection between not only his wife being taken from him but also his child (Susan getting the abortion in “real life”).
Yeah, good question. I wrote the piece way back when the movie came out, over 2 years ago. I think, at the time, my thinking was that everyone gets how huge a deal the abortion would have been for Edward… We know what happens to the daughter in the novel is symbolic of the abortion. With it being so clear, it wasn’t that necessary for me to get into as I was aiming to explain what wasn’t clear.
I think? I could have just been so caught up in the explanation of the plot/themes that I just forgot to mention it, though!
I read the whole thing lol “taking a lot of baths” killed me
Haha, thank you! It was so many baths!
just dvr’d this movie this week and watched this morning, then did a quick search for the end and found this. article from 2016 yet all comments are from this week, that seems quite strange.
Hey! We just re-launched the website, moving from Wix to WordPress. So none of the old comments carried over. I think the previous one had like…150? Which is a shame because there was some great discussion.
Did you like the movie?
Hi ! Thus is what U have found too) . I watched the movie today, looked for tge ending explanation afterwards and then noticed that the all the comments are new. It may be related to the fact that the movie has been added to Netflix just recently.
I have a problem with the idea that Edward was getting some great revenge by writing the book, sending it to his ex, and then standing her up for a dinner. This seems mostly based on our information about Susan’s life. We know her life is shallow, loveless, and devoid of happiness. Most people then conclude that the stand up at the restaurant is so brutal to her because it was a hope for rekindling love and happiness.
That may be the case, but Edward does not know anything about her current life. They have not spoke in years. This tells me that Edward never did get over her. He spent the last 20 years writing a book about his relationship with Susan. He wants her to read the book and know the pain she caused him. This does not sound like somebody that is moving on with life.
His story arc probably more closely aligns with Tony’s. He finally stands her up in the end like Tony standing up for himself, but he is probably alone, miserable, dying inside, and may very well commit suicide. Tragic ending is how I see it.
Hey Joe! I think that’s a fair reading! At the end of the day, we don’t have enough information about modern day Edward to come to a solid conclusion. He’s kind of like a glass of water. Is he half-full? Half-empty? That lack of information makes the character a bit more self-reflective for the viewer because we have to decide how we think his life is at this point. Is he satisfied and moving on? Is his trajectory much more tragic?
Hi, I would like to make a quick comment. I actually think there’s a good balance between both of the messages of hope and strength for Susan and the original proposed theme of tragedy/sadness in the article. In her scene while she’s getting prepared to go to meet Edward she’s initially wearing lipstick without her ring, removes the lipstick, moves to put on her ring and then decided against it. In my mind this suggests that her thought train is initially ‘try to rekindle things with Edward’ then once the lipstick is removed she decided against it and goes to put on her ring, but then deciding not to wear the ring and the lipstick is symbolic of her moving on from her current situation with Hutton, be it with Edward or not. You could also imply that Edwards revenge is on Hutton as well as in Tony’s confrontation scene with Ray he says something along the lines of ‘you don’t get to get away with what you do to people’ (not accurate I know and I apologise – but this ties in with the idea that Ray symbolises Hutton which was suggested in the article above). I apologise again if this comment isn’t in the right place
I like your two ending meaning projection, however I want to talk about the comparison you’ve made between what happened to Tony and his family. The fact that you are assuming that “most of us won’t seek revenge” after an act like that is misleading I believe. In a way that what happened to Tony cannot be compared to being cheated by his girlfriend…because Tony was not only the only witness, also a victim of the aggression. First, Tony and his family were harassed by 3 random guy in the night; that’s frightening for most people. Then, then he saw his wife and daughter being kidnapped in front of him and he felt powerless to prevent that from happening ( lots of culpability), and then he was left out of nowhere in the dark by the other guy, knowing that something terrible has happen to his missing family. All kind of emotions he going through like fear and anger that cannot be compared to someone being cheated, at least not on the same level. From that on, being victim of that kind despicable act, I believe it’s the thing that most people would like to have is: revenge. Especially physical right after the incident occurred. It may be different after time have passed, but when the emotions and bad memories of the incident come back freshly in mind, physical revenge it most likely something he felt doing. Let’s be honest here, your wife and kids are raped and murdered, and you were felt powerless…it’s most likely payback on those scums.
Yo! Thank you!. Yeah, I definitely think nearly everyone would consider physical retaliation and desire it. I just don’t think many would pursue it to the extent Tony does. Tony’s pursuit of it does probably show Edward desired the same thing. The question becomes how someone thinks of Tony’s fate. Do they think of it as symbolic for, “Once you get revenge, that part of you dies, allowing you to move on,” or “Seeking revenge can lead you to your own demise.”
I was surprised you didn’t mention the abortion Susan went through with. The hatred Edward must have felt towards Susan for taking away his chance at a family. Now Edward is alone with no family. Also the actor who plays the wife in the novel is a striking resemblance to Susan? Coincidence? I think not. Hutton even takes her to abort Edwards child. Hutton was literally there for the murder of Susan and Edwards child. Hence the relation between Hutton and Ray. Edward shows up with tears in his eyes because he knows what just happened. Same look Tony has when he found his wife and daughter. Deep down he knows what has happened. Something that puzzles me is why we’re the bodies placed the way they were? We can tell from Ray’s actions when they were all on the side of the road that he hated these woman and how “rich and snobby” they were. So why place the bodies on a couch, wrapped around each other like they were hugging? It seems like they were placed with care. Just seems odd and I can’t quite put my finger on why exactly they were found like that.
Hey Sydney! Definitely not coincidence! Though…I think someone could argue that how we see the book could be “how Susan imagines the book”. So she’d see Tony as Edward, see the wife as being close to herself, etc. But that doesn’t change how I’d interpret the scene, just the source of why the character looks that way.
I think Ray is actually supposed to symbolize Susan and how she was leading this double life by cheating on Edward—there’s the Susan with Edward, then the Susan who’s actively ruining their relationship by cheating/having an abortion. Tony’s wife is symbolic of the relationship he thought he had, where Ray is the Susan who wrecked Tony’s life/Edward’s life.
We know Susan came from money and had a resentment for the life she came from, but she also ended up running away from the simpler life that Edward offered. So that fits, as Edward was essentially calling out her insecurity and hypocrisy.
I think the bodies hugging would be more of a symbolic choice to visually capture the innocence of the slain mother/daughter? You could maybe try forming an argument around the idea that Ray is Susan so how would Susan leave that past version of herself and the daughter? But I think that scene is vague enough that it’s difficult to make a definitive conclusion about why. Though we have enough evidence to put forth theories like the one above.
Does that help?
Chris, I have been struggling with the ending as well, and none of the speculations so far left me comfortable.
But *this* interpretation, seeing different aspects of Susan in the roles of the wife and in Ray really resonates!
Now everything makes sense, and *I* can finally go to sleep!
Thank you.
Really happy to hear that!! Whenever you have questions, we’re here to help!
I’ve been playing with the idea that Rey is Susan in Edward’s mind as well. In my mind Rey put the bodies that way because to him they are objects, beautiful empty objects. One and the same. Just as for Susan( and her class probably) some people are seen more as objects than as human beings. Like the obese, naked women dancing in the opening scene. Susan sells that as art. The bodies of the women put on display, not moving, empty , like Tony’s wife and daughter in that scene. Maybe he thinks of her as a monster too. An animal in the real sense.
I felt that instead of Edward feeling like he lost Susan to another man like Tony lost his wife and child to evil men, the parallel is that Edward feels as if he lost his wife and unborn child to things completely beyond his control because he was too weak to stop them from happening much like Tony was too weak to fight off the evil men.
I also don’t feel that the movie draws parallels between Hutton and Ray, it is more that Hutton represents something taking away his love, his life, something he was too WEAK to stop. Its Edwards comments on the view that Susan had of him.
I agree with all of that! I wrote the piece a couple of years ago, haven’t re-read it since November 2016. If I said “Ray is Hutton” and left it at that then I definitely didn’t get it righht.
Tony’s weakness was definitely a major point, and was moreso the issue than Hutton. From what we see in the novel, Edward seems self-aware enough to know Hutton wasn’t the main problem. At this point, I think the parallel is between Ray and Susan. I mean, I’m sure Edward wasn’t dismissing Hutton entirely—Susan still left Edward for Hutton. But I think Ray is that side of Susan that you described, the side Edward was scared of, weak around, unable to figure out. The side of Susan that eventually ruined the life Edward thought he’d have. All because he was too weak to handle her.
In the novel, he loses both his wife and his daughter at the hands of another man, just like in his reality (obviously exaggerated). He was too “weak” to save them. “I didn’t see it coming” – as he explained to the sheriff. This mirrors Edwards life with Susan and him being portrayed as being too “weak” or sensitive to be with Susan or have the baby Susan aborted – “ to save his wife and daughter”. I thought it was a great movie!
Hi Chris,
Not sure if it’s already been mentioned, but in your piece you mention that Susan has “nothing”… But, she has a daughter! Remember? She calls her once to check in with her when the book scares her. I’m not entirely sure who the father is or what she symbolises really, but this might give the “reconciliation/new chapter” theory for susan a little more backbone perhaps.
Indeed, I did also think the placement of the bodies wasn’t consistent with who these monsters were. But then again, it’s fiction right? The book sequences almost feel a little dreamy at times. Shannon’s character with his “nothing to lose” situation and all those sunny West Texas landscape shots of him. He’s like a lost dog, guiding us through this dark, dark tale. Anyhoo, thanks for your summary. A stylish and bold second feature from Ford indeed, with some killer performances particularly from the kid from Kick Ass who really comes of age here, and Shannon who is always brilliant. Cheers
My interpretation on Edward writting the Nocturnal Animals novel is that he may have written this super tragic story ironically and dedicated to Susan as a way of dismissing her idea that art has to be tragic (hence all the art in the gallery is so tragic and “violent”), in opposition as the novel he made her read when they were together in the past. And what I mean by saying he wrote the novel ironically, is that he may never publish this novel because he wrote it exclusivelly to crush her as she did to him, (using the metaphores of his daughter dying/abortion, and Ray as the cause of it all reminding us of the role Susan played in his life). And I came to this conclussion because it is not his way of writing, it is not how he is (or at least it isn’t the Edward Susan remembers from the past (the only Edward we are shown in the movie is from her memories)). I know it may seem extreme to write such a novel to never publish it, and maybe in real life it wouldn’t happen, but after all this is a movie and I interpret this as how his life has been: all about her leaving him, and holding the grudge for 19 years. And maybe this “revenge writting” is after all this what motivates him to write.
And the stood up at the ending, I interpret it like you, such a sad a lonely feeling for Susan, who had not only taken her wedding ring, but also using color on her clothes, using her hair more freely, not painting her nails black and taking off her lipstick, making you (and her) remind the Susan from the past, which is the Susan that didn’t hurt Edward (yet). His last way of showing the betrayal he has gone through is by leaving her alone (same as she did to him), after having her remembering all their past together and making a novel she would consider powerfull to make drawn her to him on purpose.
I hope this makes sense!
Great interpretations, thank you!
You’re welcome Em! Appreciate it.
I think there is more to the state of Edward at the end than we are shown. The violent book he wrote and his act of revenge, to me, reveal that she destroyed that kind, sensitive, fragile soul (because he was in fact weak) and 20 years later he was left a hardened, joyless, cynic. That is where the rape in the fiction he wrote was drawn from. He felt raped by her, which is why the women looked so beautiful when dead and the men so brutalized. The fact that Tony was such a bumbling character revealed his lack of confidence and he died by shooting himself in the chest, which symbolizes the death of his heart. The heart is where art comes from and his left eye was destroyed (symbolic of the right brain). I think this means that he felt this book was selling out so that others might find his work valuable.
Also we are expecting the old Edward to come through the door with a big, kind smile on his face. In the book Tony has a beard at first and is a cowardly figure. He shaves his beard after the tragedies and becomes somewhat more heroic. He then looks like old Edward. Clean shaven Tony is the one who dies by his own mistake. This indicates that old Edward, who was a romantic living without fear is dead. 20 year later Edward has a beard and feels like a coward as he is too afraid to ever feel love again, for a person, or for his writing.
Oh and lastly THE DETECTIVE Bobby! The detective represented the honorable, strong, protector aspect of himself. Bobby started dying as the revenge plot was put in motion. He shot the guy who had nothing to do with the murders and in fact spared Tony’s life. After that he disappears so that Tony is left alone to face Ray. Anyone got an insight into who Lou represents? Susan killed both his babies, his daughter and his writing which was based in love. He said she lived in fear. This is why she liked sensational art, inspired by fear. In the end, the novel he produced was void of love.
Has anyone considered her daughter might actually be their daughter, and she didn’t go through with the abortion…?
Such a great article!
Thanks Douglas!
I like your interpretation of the movie and i agree with a lot you shared, especially the Revenge part as I thought The same exact thing when I saw That. What I saw Which you never mentioned, is that Edward was devastated not only by her being with her new husband, but also that Hutton took her to get the abortion where Edward saw them. So Tony’s daughter definitely represented the baby she decided to abort.
Hello,
I just watched the movie, and rushed to sites to find more. I really liked the interpretation, but what if, every character in the novel, be it the goons or the detective, are reflections of the real world characters of Edward’s life?
What if, the goons are personification of insecure nature of Susan while they were together, especially how they derail Tony’s life. All trying to help fix his car(Susan trying to help Edward about what she feels is wrong with him), but instead when irritated, they had their way with Edward’s wife(an image of Susan that Edward had in mind when he fell in love), and his daughter. The daughter in the novel, could mean two things. I guess.
One interpretation is that killing of the daughter is the reflection of the abortion. Another interpretation could be, that the daughter was the ‘relationship’. The daughter which argued with the goons- the relationship which made Susan go against her mother, and against her own insecurities for a while. The depiction of the dead bodies of the mother daughter duo, would seem justified if the mother is supposed to be the image of Susan that Edward loved(or still does), and lying alongside is the body of the daughter(the relationship). Those insecurities of Susan raped and ultimately killed Edward’s love and the relation as a whole.
While the goons were done fixing the tires, for a moment it felt like things were going to be okay. That they would get to be on their own now. What if this moment of hope was Edward and Susan conceiving their first child?
Also, what if the detective is the reflection of Edward’s part that helped him get revenge. And what if through this depiction of the detective, Edward tried to convey that he has lung cancer? That he has a year to live?
Either this or it could mean that the part of him that made him plan the revenge(the novel, in case of Edward), was dying, that is: the book was his way of getting revenge but this way of writing(which wasn’t Edward’s style), would be killed off and he would return to his original fashion.
Its long, and I was kind of just babbling. kindly respond if it would be by any chance possible.
Wonderfully written synopsis of the film. I agree with everything you said in both the original article and the updates. I’m not so good at collecting my thoughts and it’s like you did it for me!
I felt bad for Susan, which left me a little disappointed, but it was also refreshing that it wasn’t a predictable happy ending. Overall I think it was compelling, and they nailed the complexity and symbolism. I love films that are open to interpretation like Nocturnal Animals is.
Great read, especially with the updates to clear up stances. I love the tragic end aspect that you have pointed out
What about the girl Susan calls? Her daughter…. If Susan had the abortion, is she Hutton’s daughter? Or could there be something more to it?
I enjoyed this description of the movie. It helped me place my own confused feelings.
I will not call this a revenge movie. I do feel it is clear that it is, but I’d like to be believe that Edward has grown from that relationship. That he has benefited from that heartbreak and that he has shown Susan the person she is by standing her up. It was a teachable moment.
And I do not pity Susan. Though I understand why she attacked Edward and moved on to what she believed was the better option at the time, she’s clearly in the wrong. And if Edward had not sent that novel to her, would he have even crossed her mind romantically. Has he even crossed her mind in that way at all?
I don’t find anything about Susan to be genuine. Not even her sadness. I think Susan lacks the ability grow. And even if Edward appeared during that last scene and accepted her. Would the relationship have lasted? No, Susan
prefers the easy way out. She would not have genuinely loved him and would have left him heart broken once again.
I just finished watching the movie. The first thing I did after was look in the internet for the meaning of the ending. And damn! Good thing this article was the first I read. Just explained everything and what a masterpiece this movie is. So symbolic. Such an art. It’s just really sad and devastating but i think thats how ur supposed to feel in the movie. Anyway kudos to everyone who enjoyed it and the one who wrote the article. I’d sure like to have my own novel someday
I really want the author to reply to the question of whether the daughter is Edward’s or Hutton’s. Coz the age is close to the daughter of Tony in the book.
To me it was pretty clear that the daughter was Hutton’s. Outside the abortion clinic, while with Hutton she expresses regret not once but twice. Something like, “I’ll live to regret this” and “I already regret this” or to that effect. There is a finality to that- people don’t regret things that didn’t happen. And there is no reason to distrust her memories based on the narrative. It would follow that she became pregnant with Hutton’s child soon after she aborted Edward’s.
Any comments about the scene in which Susan is looking at her friends baby on a phone screen and suddenly there is a creature/monster on the screen- she drops and cracks the phone???
Good movie with a great cast. Just saw it and the ending isn’t to complicated for me. Basically once Tony kills Ray at the end it signifies the end of Edwards so called weakness. Edward is no longer the sensitive guy that Susan knew, at least towards her anymore. He stands her up for revenge. It shows her feeling alone and empty. That’s what she has chosen over Edward and he won’t forgive her. Edward was the good guy and he got his revenge in his own way. Happy ending in my opinion.
no, she is not Edward’s daughter as she aborts her first child with Hutton
Hey! Just watched the movie and I couldn’t deal with the end as well, so I went searching for explanation. After I read what you wrote I went back to the movie and watched the scene when she receives the book. When she was trying to open it she got a paper cut, I think it could mean that what is inside is going to hurt her. Because of that she asks the security guy to open it and read the note to her. She enphasizes that it is “just a paper cut”, but I think that could mean she would be “cut by paper”, in other words, by the book. In the note Edward says he is in LA and he would be happy to meet her, so it seemed he had overcome what happened because riht after that she says she tried to reach him before but he hung up on her. Another thing that caught my attention was when she starts to relate with Tony. I guess the film shows us that she is living a similiar situation that Edward lived, and that’s why when Tony is having a bath, she’s having a bath. Her husband is having an affair, her daughter has her on life and doesn’t need her anymore… you never see that call her daughter promised her in the film. Just when you find out that she is totally alone the flashbacks start. Maybe she was thinking what went wrong and why… you see her mom saying that eventually we become our mothers and that’s what happened. Right after that, she sends Edward an email saying the story of the book is devastating, that she is deeply moved and that it is beautifully written. It looks like she’s started to act like herself in her 20s and was not the cinic she became. That reminded me of the talk dhe had with a friwnd that said that is easier to deal with art then with reality. After they caught the first guy in the book, you can see a change in her. She used to wear dark colored clothes before, black and blue, but after that, she wore white and that’s the first time she talks about her ex husband to a work colleague and seems to show some guilt. After that she sees the painting “revenge”. It seems that she’s really “entering the game of revenge”, letting the book get to her. The scene that she sees the baby on the phone is really strong. Because she sees it in front of the painting and because we know she had an abortion, so the revenge is about that too. It is also “funny” to see the scene of the meeting at her work. All those in black were for the firing of an employee but her and another woman in white were against, the other woman found odd that she agreed with her and even gave a smile. She decides that while thinking about Edward, so it seems not only the book is getting to her, but it is changing her attitude or her view of reallity, making her more human. It seems she started to “feel” again, woke up from the miserable life she was having when she was dead inside. The other image she sees is whats seems to be a picture of a man pointing a gun to another, it looks like that”s the effect of the book on her, like, you are at gun point, what are you going to do? For me, the first guy they arrested in the book is her, becaise he lefts Tony all alone in the dark in the middle of nowhere and the second guy is her actual husband and this time Tony is the one to kill him, revenging the deaths of his wife and daughter. I guess his death in the book means the got over it all and that story has finally ended. Now he’s ready to start over as Edward. It seems by then that she understood it all. When she gets ready to meet him, she seems more alive, she seems to enjoy looking at herself for the first time in years. She takes off her lipstick because she thought it was too much and I think she doesn’t wear her wedding ring because she realizes her marriage is over or that what she lives is not a marriage… I say that because there are a lot of scenes that show her happy with Edward and show his wedding ring, a gold one. When he doesn’t appear she puts her hand on her finger where her wedding ring should be. I guess that’s when she realizes she’s all alone and the cicle of getting into Edwards shoes is complete. Now she can move foward like he did.
I think the killers in Edward’s story represent Susan. She killed their daughter and their marriage. I believe it’s his way of showing how much she hurt him and the revenge he’d like to take out on her. The despicable nature of the killers characters show how he feels about her now.
Could be!
What a nice reading! Congrats to the author.
My interpretation about the ending is that Edward killed himself intentionally after arranging the date with Susan.
We know he was still suffering because of what Susan did, because in his last novel his wife is dead (at least is dead to him in real life) and his daughter is killed (through abortion in real life), and apparently he is lonely and his career is a failure. In my interpretation the book is written for her, as an accusation, and together with the unfulfilled promise of forgiveness that suicide will magnify, it becomes a final revenge message.
In my opinion, other endings could be plausible only if we assume that he had a perfect knowledge of Susan life and emotional situation, which sounds very unlikely considering they had no contact at all for many years.
Just another view… who knows.
regards
Tks! But, hey! Suicide!!!! I didn’t consider that! That would explain a lot! I think he knew about her life, she was well known, it seems. I can’t even say anything about him… I just feel bad now, considering he ended his life… He made her change hers, why wouldn’t the book change his as well? In a cathartic way? Maybe he was dead to her? oh… I just feel bad imagining that he ended his life because she destroyed him… 🙁
Awesome analysis. Each update resonates with different phases of my own experience of resentment, guilt, forgiveness and closure. When we let ourselves be immersed in this emotions by daring to enter mundane but unknown circumstances and relationships, we can have a chance to find life’s meaning… at least our’s.
Regards from Mexico.
I guess the meaning of life keeps changing then! 😉
Hey, I was wondering if the other two guys, Lou and the Turk are in any way symbolic too, or allusions to to people or things from Edward’s real life arc? Also, I feel, Andes is an allusion to Edward’s real life childhood best friend, i.e. Susan’s brother, Carlos (I don’t remember the name exactly, apologies). What are your thoughts?
I guess I would have to watch it again to be sure…
I think your interpretation of revenge is correct, but in a different way than you present. Edward has been wronged in a terrible way, as Susan admits to her secretary. He isn’t angry at Hutton, however, it’s Susan who has betrayed him and destroyed what he loved: his wife and daughter (in my theory he found out about or suspects the abortion). He can’t even cherish the memory of her after she leaves hi because she kept secrets from him and he discovered her in the arms of another. Susan is the thief, the murderer, the rapist. Susan is the “nocturnal animal”.
Edward is angry at himself for his weakness and inability to stop Susan from leaving. His one act of courage is to finally confront her and end the hold she had on him. I’m curious as to what his blindness represents
Ironically, I thought watching a movie tonight would put me to sleep. Nocturnal Animals was so disturbing to me, I, like Susan, may never sleep again.
I prefer your original interpretation of the movie, cause I root for Edward. What happened with him wasn’t fair, and the idea of Susan being doomed in spirits and devoid of all hope makes a much better sense of justice.
I got a crazy idea… what if she is the whole movie dead, in hell, re-living her last days days for ethernity? And she commited suicide while reading the book. In the scene where the heartbeat stops. She is in bathroom under the water. Therefore she never had a call with her daughter, she never met with Edward. Everything was an illusion in her head. The dancing big ladies in the beginning were maybe some deamons… and the look to the mobile when she saw baby of her friend was maybe some vision of her own unborn killed baby, which would also explain the daemonic vision she saw in the display, but not mentioned it after. All her present scenes were anyway in some dreamy abiente. And therefore after finishing reading the book (and killing herself) Edward did not come. She was not alive.