‘Nocturnal Animals’ Trailer: Love Is A Dark Violent Novel
The trailer for Tom Ford’s next movie, Nocturnal Animals has hit. And motherfucker, has it caught me off guard. I knew that Ford’s initial flick was well received, but I never caught it. Nocturnal Animals, though? Seems like the sort of beautiful, violent, miserable affair that I’m all about.
DESIGNER TOM FORD’S 2009 film A Single Man was one of the more auspicious directing debuts in recent history: Though Ford had long been a powerhouse in the fashion world, thanks to stints at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, few would have expected that his first movie—a stylish, cheekbone-boasting drama about a closeted professor in 1960s California—would be strong enough to earn acting nominations for its cast (including Colin Firth and Julianne Moore) and nearly $10 million at the U.S. box office.
So expectations are high for Ford’s follow-up, Nocturnal Animals, the first teaser trailer for which arrived today. Based on Austin Wright’s 1993 novel Tony and Susan, the film stars Amy Adams as Susan, a successful LA art-gallery owner whose ex-husband Edward (Jake Gyllenhaal) shows up after nearly two decades of silence, having written a violent novel that’s very clearly about their relationship. “I did something horrible to him,” Susan says—though exactly what isn’t clear in this very cryptic trailer full of brooding, beautiful expressions, ominous desert detours, and lots of…showering? So much showering! There hasn’t been a grown-up thriller with this much attention to cleanliness since Silkwood.
Also starring Armie Hammer, Michael Shannon, Isla Fisher, Laura Linney, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Nocturnal Animals won the Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Venice Film Festival, and was a breakout hit at the Toronto Film Festival. The stakes are high to see whether Ford will be able to top his debut. Will audiences want to see a film that reminds them that movie stars are beautiful pieces of perfection, and we are all mere plebes who couldn’t pull off a Gucci suit no matter how hard we tried? We’ll find out when Nocturnal Animals opens November 18.