The Brilliance of the Cliffhanger (About That Nocturnal Animals Ending)

Warning: there are major spoilers for the film Nocturnal Animals ahead; you have been warned.

Honestly, a whole analysis dedicated to the film as a whole would be undoubtedly worth my time, although for today, I want to focus on what is arguably the most controversial aspect of Tom Ford’s 2016 film: the ending. I’ve witnessed some pretty large cliffhangers before, but this something else entirely… this is a direct gut-punch to the viewer themselves.

If you’ve seen Nocturnal Animals before, you know what I’m talking about: after Susan finishes the titular novel the film’s title is based on, she decides to meet up with ex-husband Edward at a local restaurant. She’s smitten with what he has written, knowing her initial doubts about their relationship were nothing but falsehoods. Susan arrives, sits, and waits. Waits, waits, and waits, yet Edward does not show. The final shot is of a devastated and defeated Susan’s face. Cut to black, and then cut to the film’s title.

What makes this such a (purposefully done) disappointment to both Amy Adams’s character and any viewer alike is what we have and haven’t seen.

More specifically: the only times we see Edward are through flashbacks; not even a single photo of him after allegedly writing the novel is shown throughout the film’s run-time. In fact, the only contact the watcher receives is a short, nondescript e-mail in reply to Susan’s interest in him. He could very well be exactly as we had seen him before, but it’s that mystery, that unfulfilled viewer assumption, that hits so, so close to home.