Nocturnal Animals Ending Explained- Revenge Is Never Sweet

Tom Ford’s decadent, gloomy tale of regret, revenge, and ruin, Nocturnal Animals, is similar to his fashion. It is classic, minimalist, and at times maddeningly opaque. Based on the novel Tony and Susan by Austin Wright, Nocturnal Animals is a grim morality play captured through a haze of glitz and coldly burning glamour. The setting may be different, but the players and the mood are the same. Susan Morrow, an impeccably icy and deeply unhappy Amy Adams, is a married art gallery owner. Her husband, Hutton(Armie Hammer), is incompetent old money who is slowly going bankrupt and cheating on her. Jake Gyllenhaal does double duty as Edward, Susan’s ex-husband writer and the protagonist within his novel Tony.

Susan and Edward met and married in college despite her jaded mother’s views on marriage, money, and what her daughter wanted in a man. Unsurprisingly the marriage failed, and Susan married Hutton, a more suitably wealthy mate. Since Edward and Susan saw each other, she has become lonely and depressed, living in a loveless marriage. Edward has written a novel that Susan interprets as a nasty indictment of who they once were and who she is now. Whether or not that is true depends on your interpretation of the Nocturnal Animals ending. Here’s what you need to know.

Edward sends Susan his new book, which he has dedicated to her. Switching back and forth between the novel’s story and Amy and Edward’s past and present, the entire wretched world Wright has created is revealed. Edward’s novel, Nocturnal Animals, which Edward called Susan because of her poor sleep habits, reads like a warning. Additionally, the private school they attended together is the town’s name in the book. It is a vicious piece of storytelling that ends as painfully as it begins. No one gets out unscathed. Susan is correct to assume the book was written for her. It’s pointed and specific and intentionally heartless. It was written to injure and bruise.

The ending of Nocturnal Animals

Throughout the film, Susan has been reading Edward’s novel. She is drawn into Tony’s story. One night while driving through an isolated part of Texas, he, his wife, and daughter, who look very similar to Susan and her daughter with Hutton, are harassed and ultimately taken by a trio of men led by Ray, deceptively charming and evil Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Edward is left for dead, and his wife and daughter are found the next day, having been raped and killed. His case is taken by Bobby Andes, played by a brilliant Michael Shannon, who won an Oscar for his portrayal of the dying but dogged lawman. Years later, Andes and Tony track down the men responsible, and when justice fails them, they take matters into their own hands. Only two men were living, so they rounded them up and ultimately shot one while Ray, the leader, ran.

Tony tracked him down to his trailer and shot him twice but not before Ray hit him in the head with a fire poker blinding him. When he regained consciousness, he discovered Ray was dead, and he still couldn’t see. He felt his way outside and tried to alert Andes where he was but stumbled and shot himself in the stomach. Even though he did get revenge on the men who killed his family and ruined his life, it didn’t provide any resolution. Holding onto that pain destroyed him, and he paid the ultimate price.

In the film’s final moments, Susan, who had finished the book and been deeply affected by it, reached out to Edward, who agreed to meet her for dinner. Susan carefully chose how to do her hair. She chose a softer, wavier style and toned down her makeup, trying to recapture her youth. Unfortunately, the reunion was not meant to be, and Susan sat in the restaurant waiting for someone who never came. Just as she had crushed his hope of a life and family with her, he crushed her hope of correcting past mistakes and finding happiness again.

All the important details

The film opens with a sequence that could easily be a metaphor for the entire film. Susan’s gallery shows a performance art piece with plus-sized women dancing naked while wearing hats, epaulets, and boots. The dancing women’s video is projected on the wall, and the women are all lying motionless on stark white platforms as if they danced themselves to death. It could be representative of the dance we all do for the public. We pretend to be happier, more successful, and more together than we really are, and it is killing us. It could also be seen as a call to enjoy life regardless of others’ opinions for as long as possible. Susan is not comfortable in her own skin. She regrets many of her choices and knows she has become her mother. She is miserable and bitter despite being a successful gallery owner.

The painting in her house of a man shooting another who is looking at the viewer, not the shooter, is also essential. Blame is directed outward. The painting looks like the victim is indicting the viewer. Do something, save me. Susan likely chose this painting because it forced her to confront her guilt every time she looked at it. It also forces her to confront her fear. Her fear prevented her from making art of her own and choosing Edward. The textual artwork on the wall in Susan’s gallery that captivates her is literally shouting to her and the audience what is really going on in Nocturnal Animals. She doesn’t remember purchasing it because subconsciously, Susan already knew how this story would eventually end.

Revenge or catharsis?

Edward’s book is representative of the murder of their lives and their love. Either Edward wrote this book to slay his demons or as a word-driven bout of gutting brutality. After nearly two decades, he still hasn’t gotten over Susan. He is haunted by their breakup and the loss of the life they could have had. Edward is most angry with himself, though. What happens to Tony’s wife and child in the novel is proof of his perceived impotence. He blames himself for not being able to stop Susan from aborting his child. As much as he hates Susan, he is upset with himself for not being enough to make her happy.

Holding onto the past is never good. Revenge doesn’t make you feel better. It doesn’t matter if you are on the giving or receiving end. It ends poorly for everyone. Whether or not Edward chose to hurt Susan by standing her up or just decided to pick himself for once is irrelevant. He gave up twenty years of his life grieving and hating. Revenge is always devastating.

Revenge is a dish best served cold or not at all. That is the moral of Nocturnal Animals. Cruelty begets cruelty. Acts of violence, however passive, have consequences, and Susan may think she can escape her past and outrun her mistakes, but karma always gets you in the end.

Although it may look like Edward got his revenge, and he is the victor, he is just as miserable as Susan is. For nearly two decades, he has mourned the loss of his wife and child. He has spent almost his entire adult life hating her and plotting his revenge. Yes, a brutal, brilliant novel came from that dark place, but he seems stuck there, permanently tied to her like the moon gravitationally locked, powerless to move on.

The last possibility is the most hopeful. Edward wanted to meet with her again. Maybe it was to look her in the face and force her to see what she had done to him. It could also be because he never got over her and hoped they might reconcile. Instead, he chose to stand her up and move on at the last minute. Instead of continuing the cycle of pain, he decides to heal. It’s still tragic for Susan because she will never leave Hutton and will remain in her cold marriage and unsatisfying job. For Edward, though, it means he has the possibility of a happy life. Nocturnal Animals is End of Day’s bleak, but instead of going out with a bang, it is a resigned whimper. Likely neither Edward nor Susan will ever be happy.