Motherhood is a bitch. Amy Adams is delightful. Nightbitch is a solid parenting comedy, but not quite the dark delight it purports itself to be.

Nightbitch comes from writer/director Marielle Heller, as an adaptation of Rachel Yoder’s 2021 novel of the same name. The story follows Adams as the unnamed Mother, who paused her career in favor of stay-at-home motherhood. However, Mother’s domestic life takes a surreal turn when she starts to believe she’s turning into a dog. (Yes, a literal, four-legged, furry canine. Like a werewolf, but domesticated.)

When it comes to showcasing the struggles of motherhood, Nightbitch really shines. This isn’t just a movie about how kids can be chaotic and that makes parenthood hectic. Throughout the film, we truly watch Mother confront it all: the practical, day-to-day endless tasks of caring for a toddler, from preparing meals to cleaning up endless messes to hoping that this time, for once, he’s actually going to go to sleep when he should; the societal pressure to react the “right” way to different parenting challenges, and to act in a way that makes others believe you’re “a good mom”; the mental and emotional toll on the Mother’s self, and feeling like being a mom has somehow separated her from what she used to feel was her identity as a person; and of course, the uneven division of domestic labor and its associated pressures and expectations.

Throughout it all, Amy Adams gives a stellar performance. Her expressions are so emotive – you feel every world-weary exhausted second, every flicker of rage, even when there’s no dialogue. It’s also a delight to watch her play Mother’s intense, angry inner world one moment, then deliver a sugar-sweet, innocent comment out loud. Adams is perfect for this duality, and it gives Nightbitch a solid comedic edge. One of the film’s best qualities is its ability to strike a balance between dark comedy and genuine emotion and empathy; Adams easily delivers on both fronts.

Though Nightbitch excels in its portrayal of motherhood, its commitment to the “dog transformation” of it all proves a lot less impressive. For a feature billed as a body horror-comedy, the film doesn’t delve nearly enough into transformative horror to earn that title. Compared to a feature like The Substance (which is admittedly body horror in the extreme), it’s positively tame. I wanted something darker and more intense here. Something to lean into the body horror, something that better connected Mother’s suppressed feral side with going canine.

Yoder’s book, in my opinion, did a much better job of exploring how Mother’s shift into a dog was a necessary “unleashing of the beast”; that finding a way to embrace and release her rage was key to reconnecting with herself. Unfortunately, the movie struggles to make the same connections as impactfully.

While I really wanted more from Nightbitch in terms of dark surrealism, it’s still an entertaining watch. With its sharp insight into motherhood and Adams navigating a wide spectrum of emotions, comedy, and drama throughout the film, audiences can still have a good time here.

Nightbitch premieres in theaters December 6.