There's One Jake Gyllenhaal Movie That Doesn't Get Talked About Enough, And I Think It's His Best

Can we all agree that Jake Gyllenhaal is one of the most versatile actors that we currently have?

I mean, seriously. The guy can be in superhero movies, hard-hitting dramas, and even romantic comedies, like Accidental Love. He can pretty much do it all. We've talked about many of his best performances over the years, and have even ranked his best movies.

That said, even in that ranking, my all-time favorite Jake Gyllenhaal movie, 2016’s Nocturnal Animals, did get a single mention. Not only that, but I never hear anybody talking about this film. So I aim to rectify that by laying out why I think it’s Gyllenhaal's best movie.

It Is The Darkest Movie He's Ever Been In

To say that Nocturnal Animals is Jake Gyllenhaal's darkest movie is a bold claim, since this is the guy who also starred in Prisoners, Donnie Darko, Zodiac, and one of the best horror movies of all time, Nightcrawler. And as a person who loves horror movies (at least the ones that I can actually sit through), I understand that I can’t just throw around the word “darkest” like it's nothing.

That said, I still stand behind that statement: Nocturnal Animals is the darkest movie that Jake Gyllenhaal has ever starred in.

Based on the Austin Wright novel, Tony and Susan, Gyllenhaal plays two roles – one as a novelist, and one as the character within his own novel. As a novelist myself who loves meta-narratives (like the excellent biopic, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters), I’m of course drawn to stories like this.

But it’s the meta narrative itself that’s so dark, as the story within the story is hopelessly bleak. A family man named Tony (Gyllenhaal) is going on a road trip with his wife and daughter, only to be run off the road by three hoodlums. Two of the hoodlums kidnap his family, while the other one forces him to drive to a location, leaving him stranded. Tony calls the police, and…horrible things ensue.

Surrounding this meta-narrative is the story of the author’s ex-wife, Susan, played by Amy Adams. She’s going through a divorce from her second husband, and was sent a proof of the above-described novel, as well as an invitation to dinner from her first husband (Gyllenhaal). While reading the novel, she finds correlations between the character in the story and her ex-husband, which is all handled in a dour and dark tone. It all comes together to create a visually, but also psychologically grim story, and one that I believe could remain the darkest that Gyllenhaal will ever lend his talents to.

Gyllenhaal Fulfills Two Roles In This Film, And Both Of Them Are Equally Fascinating

As mentioned, Gyllenhaal plays both the author of the novel, which is titled Nocturnal Animals, as well as the protagonist of said story. What’s fascinating about this is that both roles feel entirely different, and yet similar.

This is mostly because Adams’ character, Susan, who owns an art gallery, is making a connection between her ex-husband, as well as the character in the novel, who is portrayed as weak and helpless. What’s interesting is that Gyllenhaal’s character as the author has perfect control over his own life, but Susan is reminiscing about him earlier in their marriage when he was still a struggling writer.

Gyllenhaal has to walk a tightrope as the man that he used to be, the man in the novel, as well as his current self, who is the one who asks his ex-wife out to dinner and sends her the copy of his novel in the first place.

Gyllenhaal is masterful in every role. In fact, one of my other favorite Gyllenhaal movies (and also one of my favorite Denis Villeneuve movies), Enemy, features Gyellenhaal in two roles. But in that film, he’s playing two men who look identical, but have wildly different personalities.

In this film, Gyllenhaal is playing both a creator (as an author), but also the creation (the protagonist in the book). It’s a super unique dual role, and my personal favorite of Gyllenhaal’s.

The Film's Dual Stories Are Both Hypnotic

The most interesting thing about this movie is the dual storylines, which are both hypnotic. One of my favorite movies of all time is Adaptation, which is definitely one of Charlie Kaufman’s best films, and I reference it due to its own story within a story, though that one is mostly played for comedic effect. Not so with Nocturnal Animals, which speaks to the idea that the author of any novel is really just writing about aspects of themselves.

It all comes together through Amy Adams’ character, who is in the real world, but also projecting her thoughts upon the character that her husband created in the novel. After a while, it gets hard to separate “the real world” from the one presented in the story.

It’s all quite seamless and dreamlike, just like what the great John Gardner once famously wrote of all good fiction–it should feel like “a vivid and continuous fictional dream.” And, in every way, Nocturnal Animals succeeds in that regard.

There Is One Gut Punch Moment That Has Lived With Me Ever Since I Saw It And Has Never Let Me Go

There are only a few movies that have viscerally made me ill. Darren Aronofsky’s mother! (which I still love) had a scene that was so disturbing that I genuinely wanted to leave the theater after it occurred.

And The Butterfly Effect, which I still think is an underappreciated gem, unnerved me so much that I grew sick to my stomach at one point.

But, I don't think any movie hit me with a stronger gut punch than Nocturnal Animals, which has a scene that is so brutally sad, that I had to turn off the film for a while. It was that potent.

I won't spoil the scene in case you want to watch the movie, but I will say that it takes place after Gyllenhaal's wife and child are kidnapped in the fictional world.

And, it's almost all of Gyllenhaal’s performance that makes this scene so gut-wrenchingly hard to watch. I'll tell you. That scene alone is the greatest acting that I think I've ever seen from Jake Gyllenhaal.

That Ending

Finally, I have always been of the opinion that a great ending is more important than a great beginning.

A lot of people will disagree with me. But, as somebody who is used to slow starts, I'd much rather be slowly drawn into a story with an excellent conclusion, than be introduced to a bombastic opening that flatlines toward the end (think Game of Thrones).

Nocturnal Animals definitely has a slow start (more to build mood than anything), but its ending is both quiet, but also very loud.

Throughout the film, Amy Adams’ character is reading her ex-husband's novel in anticipation of meeting him for dinner, and we anticipate them getting back together again. And…I won't tell you how the film ends, but it definitely isn't how I expected. Not only that, but it left me feeling…thoughtful. Just like a good book should.

So if you haven't checked out Nocturnal Animals yet, please do so. It's one of Gyllenhaal's best movies, if not THE best. Believe it.