MovieChat Forums > Nocturnal Animals (2016) Discussion > Did she really have...(spoilers)

Did she really have...(spoilers)


a daughter?

At one point after she stops reading the book, she calls her daughter. In retrospect we learn that she had an abortion. So did she have a child with her second husband? Or was that meant to convey a regret or desire to talk to the child she never had?

If someone could shed a bit of light it'd be great.

reply

Yes, she had a child with her second husband. That's why they talk by skype, so that the audience can see she's 'real'. Notice how when she reads and imagines in her mind the devastating moment in the book when her 1st husband finds the murdered bodies of his beloved wife and daughters, how she quickly calls her own 'real' daughter to check up on her?

In the end, her book makes her recall what a good man she left and what a terrible thing she did aborting his baby in order to start a new life with her new soon to be wealthy and ambitious husband. Her daughter is doing her life, her husband is away most of the time (with his lover) and she's left all alone in her immaculate beautiful but empty house. Indeed, she herself is just like that immaculate and empty house, and the book makes her realise and reawaken the love she had for her husband.

Obviously she is a very selfish woman, just like her mother, and only now does she realise that she has turned into her, much to her dismay.

So she thinks her husband wants to meet with her to rekindle 'old times', and now she thinks that he's finally written a good book and he will start making it big as an author.....but she gets stood up. She's left sitting there on her own, surrounded by the comings and goings of happy romantic couples, waiting....and she continues to wait until closing time because deep down she knows she deserves to be stood up, she knows he's punishing her for all the hurt she did to him, and she soaks it all in, the guilt, the regret, the realisation of her aesthetically immaculate empty life. She realises what a horrible person she was and is and that she may never find true love or happiness again.

reply

Thank you for the explanation and insight!

That bit really confused me after the end of the movie. I guess I should’ve paid more attention.

reply

zgreat post, Cornelia. I just watched this movie (I love Amy Adams), came here to see what others thought, and saw that you and I think alike. The film was very poignant.

reply

Well put 👍

reply

Great review. I think you should post in the review section.

I feel the same way.

I really like how you describe her as selfish because that is what she is. A very Selfish woman.

reply

Selfish woman is an oxymoron.

reply

Michael Shannon was great in this as the terminally ill cop.

reply

Indeed he was. Michael Shannon has been great in anything I've seen him in.

reply