Aahana Swrup
‘Nightbitch’ is a dark comedy film that brings a polarizing depiction of motherhood in all its naturally bestial guts and glory. The film follows a suburban family made up of a toddler, a pet cat, a full-time mother, and her scantily available husband with concerningly little parenting skills. In the couple of years that the protagonist, Mother, trades in her artistic aspirations for a parenting life, she can’t help but grow frustrated with its rewarding yet thankless and isolating nature. As a result, things become complicated when a change begins to take place, promising a great transformation for the Mother—outlandishly, of the canine kind. The film presents a nuanced portrayal of a mother’s experience, in which the nameless disposition of the central character plays a crucial role.
Motherhood as an All-Encompassing Identity
In ‘Nightbitch,’ Amy Adams’ character is only ever referred to as Mother. Despite being the center of the storyline, Mother and her family never receive actual names from the narrative. In fact, supporting characters like librarian Dorma, Miriam, Jen, and Liz, the other mothers who frequent the local library, have first names. Even so, Mother, her son, her husband—and even their pet cat—don’t have actual names. Instead, the characters are only ever referred to by their titles in association with each other as a family.
On the surface level, this robs the characters of individual identity, allowing them to become effective surrogates for their social demographics. Son is simply a toddler who is learning and growing every day. The husband—who readily agrees to let his wife quit her job and single-handedly look over parenting duties—is a neglectful partner, ignorant of the sacrifices he and society demand of his spouse. Lastly, Mother, the protagonist, is representative of the near-impossible situation that many women find themselves in after becoming a parent under society’s unfair norms and expectations.
Furthermore, a significant aspect of Mother’s narrative revolves around her lost sense of self. Ever since she agreed to put her career on hold and become a stay-at-home mom, she has felt a perpetual loss of her identity as an artist and an individual. Her days only ever orbit around her son and his needs. Even though she loves her son dearly and enjoys the close bond she has formed with him, it also inevitably leads to severe burnout and exhaustion. For the same reason, her presence in the story only as “Mother” further plays into the same themes, highlighting the unconditional nature of motherhood that often traps women in one box.
Nightbitch as Mother’s Self-Coined Nickname
Apart from Mother, “Nightbitch” remains the only other name associated with the central character. The woman gives herself the titular nickname after she snaps at her negligent husband one night when he sleeps through his son’s tantrum despite promises of taking over parenting duties for the day. The name is floated in levity but unravels a defining part of Mother’s upcoming journey. The story’s central conflict revolves around Mother’s unexpected transformation into a dog—something she begins indulging in under the night’s cover.
Thus, Mother becomes a nightly female dog—or a night bitch. The transformation remains a metaphor for Mother’s yearning for freedom as well as the intrinsic connection between nature and motherhood presented in a more visceral and animalistic sense. As such, associating the term with the protagonist’s identity further improves her ties to the central themes. It also enforces the idea that the character is a symbol or an overarching representation of the frustrating experiences of all mothers. Ultimately, the decision to leave Mother nameless heightens the significance of her narrative, hammering a vital cornerstone of her character.
Read More: Nightbitch Ending, Explained
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