With six Academy Award nominations and a highly eclectic filmography to her name, Amy Adams has proven that she can do anything. However, Nightbitch is hopefully the film that finally gets her taken seriously as a horror movie actor. That being said, one of her earliest credits is actually a horror-comedy movie — 2000’s deliciously campy mystery, Psycho Beach Party — but the horror genre is one of the few that she is not well-known for partaking in.
If this is the first you are hearing about this upcoming 2024 movie, I imagine it raises quite a few questions — the most pressing of which might be, “What is the significance of that bizarrely risqué title?” Could this be a slasher movie in which “Nightbitch” is the killer’s nickname, a vampire movie in which the title references the behavioral nature of Adams’ bloodsucker role, or could it even be a follow-up to her acclaimed 2016 thriller Nocturnal Animals? Believe it or not, none of those theories are nearly as strange as the actual plot, which we will reveal in the following guide to this upcoming horror movie.
What Is The Nightbitch Release Date?
Currently, Nightbitch is scheduled to hit theaters on December 6, 2024. The film was originally going to be released exclusively for audiences with a Hulu subscription until Searchlight Pictures, which is distributing the thriller, announced in early April 2024 that it would heading to the big screen instead.
What Nightbitch Is About
While the word “bitch” has taken on a relatively more insulting nature in modern society, the original definition simply refers to a “female dog” and is the inspiration for the title of Nightbitch. The film is being described as a comedic horror film that follows a suburban housewife who starts to take on the role of a stay-at-home mom. However, soon after, she begins to fall under the suspicion that, by nightfall, she becomes a canine.
This unique, surreal reinterpretation of lycanthropic lore comes from the mind of author Rachel Yoder, whose acclaimed 2021 novel of the same name serves as the basis of Nightbitch. According to an exclusive report by Deadline, Annapurna Pictures first bought the rights to adapt the book about a year before it was even published. This is Yoder’s debut novel, but she has also penned short stories and essays that have appeared in the likes of The New York Times and The Sun, among other publications.
The Nightbitch Trailer Is An Authentic Look At Motherhood With A Surreal Twist
Anyone who has ever been a mother can probably relate to what Amy Adams' character goes through in the trailer for Nightbitch. However, the clip offers a tease of some of the other things she seems to be going through that we hope no other mother can identify with. See for yourself by watching it here:
The Nightbitch trailer does a phenomenal job shedding light on the common frustrations of the average stay-at-home mother, from career sacrifices to never having enough time to managing every little catastrophe the children create (and the husband exacerbates, perhaps). It also does a good job of hiding whether or not the protagonist's nighttime transformation into a dog is real or just in her head. The overall tone feels more like an overt comedy than the quirky horror drama we initially envisioned but we cannot say we are not intrigued.
Amy Adams Leads The Nightbitch Cast
As established, Amy Adams is starring as the lead of the Nightbitch cast. Review what else the talented A-lister is known for, as well as who else is joining her in the upcoming creepfest, below.
Amy Adams
As previously mentioned, Nightbitch will not be Amy Adams’ horror debut, having starred in the aforementioned Psycho Beach Party from 2000 after earning her first acting credit with Drop Dead Gorgeous a year earlier. She went on to earn her first Academy Award nomination for 2005’s Junebug, followed by five more nods for 2008’s Doubt, The Fighter from 2010, The Master in 2012, American Hustle from the following year, and 2018’s Vice, most recently.
She also had a memorable recurring role on The Office, played a Disney princess to perfection in Enchanted, was the DCEU’s Lois Lane, and received an Emmy nomination for HBO’s Sharp Objects, to name a few achievements.
Scoot McNairy
According to Variety, Adams’ Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice co-star, Scoot McNairy, stars as her characters’ husband in Nightbitch, which will be the actor’s second horror release in 2024, following Blumhouse’s American update of Speak No Evil in September. His own previous and most notable experiences with the genre are alien invasion movies like Monsters and A Quiet Place Part II. He has also been in a few Best Picture Oscar winners — namely Argo and 12 Years a Slave.
Zoë Chao
Starring in Nightbitch in an undisclosed role is Zoë Chao, whose best known feature-length credits so far include Netflix original movies Senior Year and Your Place or Mine, Richard Linklater’s Where’d You Go, Bernadette, and the Peacock original sci-fi rom-com, If You Were the Last. You may also recognize her from TV shows like Facebook Watch’s Strangers, Max’s Love Life, the most recent season of Starz’s Party Down, and The Afterparty cast for Apple TV+.
Ella Thomas
Also as a currently unknown character is Ella Thomas, who got her start predominantly making guest appearances on hit TV shows such as How I Met Your Mother and Castle, to name just a couple, before landing a 25-episode stint on All My Children. One of her first leading roles in a film was in the Tubi-exclusive 2022 horror movie, Unborn, and, in 2023, she appeared in a crime drama called Desperation Road.
Garrett C. Phillips
We also have yet to learn details about Garrett C. Phillips’ role in Nightbitch, but do know that it will only be his second feature film after 2020’s Most Guys are Losers. His most recognizable credits so far are guest spots on TV shows like HBO’s Ballers, Peacock’s Saved by the Bell revival, and Blue Bloods.
Mary Holland
Mary Holland has a few credits in common with Zoë Chao — namely Senior Year and The Afterparty — and starred in the Netflix miniseries, The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window, which seems to poke fun at stories similar to the Amy Adams-led The Woman in the Window. The comedian is also known for movies like Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates and Happiest Season, and TV shows like Blunt Talk and Veep.
Nightbitch Is Rated R
With a title like Nightbitch, it sounds like this thriller was destined for an R rating from the beginning. Indeed, Bloody-Disgusting reported in June 2023 that the MPA did give the film that exact rating, citing language and sexuality as the deciding factors.
Marielle Heller Writes And Directs Nightbitch
At the helm of Nightbitch and credited with adapting the novel into its screenplay is Marielle Heller, who previously directed acclaimed films The Diary of a Teenage Girl in 2015, 2018’s Oscar-nominated Can You Ever Forgive Me?, and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood in 2019. She also helmed an episode of Transparent, two episodes of Casual, and a filmed performance of Heidi Schrek’s one-person show, What the Constitution Means to Me, which became available to stream with an Amazon Prime Video subscription in 2020.
Heller is also credited as a producer on the movie, alongside Adams, who has also been attached to produce the project since the beginning. According to AV Club, others signed on as producers include Megan Ellison, Anne Carey, Stacy O’Neil, Christina Oh, Adam Paulsen, and Sue Naegle.
Nightbitch Was Filmed In 2022 In Los Angeles
According to World of Reel, the cameras began to roll fror Nightbitch in L.A. in October 2022. It was early that year, in May, when Searchlight Pictures acquired the distribution rights from AnnaPurna.
We have certainly seen Amy Adams in some dark roles in the past, but nothing quite like this. So, count me in as doggedly excited for Nightbitch.
