Unpacking the primal rage of motherhood

Within the first 30 minutes of the magical realist dramedy Nightbitch, Amy Adams, starring as a new-ish parent teeming with fury and resentment, discovers that the oozing pustule that appeared on her back contains what appears to be a tail, the clearest sign yet that she is transforming into a dog.

- Nicole Sperling

NEW YORK - Within the first 30 minutes of the magical realist dramedy Nightbitch, Amy Adams, starring as a new-ish parent teeming with fury and resentment, discovers that the oozing pustule that appeared on her back contains what appears to be a tail, the clearest sign yet that she is transforming into a dog.

Yet, unlike the protagonists in most body transformation movies, the character meets the metamorphosis not with horror or shock, but with a general curiosity, an almost radical acceptance of who she is now.

"It's a further manifestation of what had already happened through pregnancy and post-pregnancy and nursing," American actress Adams, 50, said in a joint interview with the film's American writer-director Marielle Heller, 45.

"It was just one more thing, 'Oh, look, I've got hair growing in weird places.' I feel like we all get to that point where we stop judging things. I'm not horrified any more by anything. I'm just like, well, there's that."

That somewhat serene validation by Adams' character, called simply Mother in the credits, is what propels the film, which premieres on Disney+ on Jan 24.