Nightbitch: Ressentiment & Recognition

Marielle Heller’s Nightbitch centres around the now cliched figure of the dissatisfied housewife. The (unnamed) main character, played by Amy Adams, quits her job as an artist to stay home and take care of her infant son — something that she herself suggested to her husband. However, she soon feels suffocated by the reality of motherhood. When asked if she enjoys being able to stay at home with her son, she says:

I would like to feel content but instead I feel like I’m stuck inside a prison of my own creation where I torment myself endlessly until I am left binge eating fig newtons at midnight to keep from crying. I feel as though societal norms, gender expectations, and plain old biology have forced me to become this person who I don’t recognize. I am angry all the time — like all the time. I would one day like to direct my own artwork toward a critique of these modern-day systems which articulates all this but my brain no longer functions as it did before the baby and I’m just really dumb now. I am deeply afraid I will never be smart or happy or thin again.

She eventually reveals that she wants to return to her art, and the film implies that it’s a desire to create that motivates this return. But I’m not convinced. Maybe on the conscious level, she merely wants to express herself and make use of her talent. But subconsciously, I believe her actions…