Nocturnal Animals

Susan Morrow owns an upscale Los Angeles art gallery. Her current show involves a presentation of obese majorettes dancing vigorously while naked. Susan receives a manuscript for a novel written by her estranged ex-husband, Edward Sheffield, whom she has not seen or communicated with in almost twenty years. Upset by her deteriorating marriage to unfaithful businessman Hutton Morrow, Susan becomes consumed by the novel, which is dedicated to her and named Nocturnal Animals, after Edward's nickname for her. In this novel, Tony Hastings is a family man who runs afoul of three local troublemakers – Ray Marcus, Lou and Turk – during a road trip through West Texas. After being forced off the road, Tony is powerless to stop Ray and Turk from kidnapping his wife, Laura, and their daughter, India; leaving him with Lou, who forces him to drive Ray's car to the end of a road where he is abandoned. Tony manages to evade Ray and Lou when they return looking for him and makes his way to a nearby farmhouse to call the police. Detective Roberto "Bobby" Andes is assigned to the case and with Tony, discovers the naked bodies of Laura and India near an abandoned shack, where they had been raped and murdered. Tony is wracked with guilt. He is contacted by Andes a year later and is asked to identify Lou, who was caught in a botched robbery and is charged as an accomplice in Laura and India's murders. Turk has been fatally shot in the same robbery, leaving Ray as the last culprit to be brought to justice. Andes arrests Ray but is forced to release him as they have only circumstantial evidence of his involvement. On the verge of being pushed out and having been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, Andes says he has little to lose and asks Tony if he is willing to skirt procedure to see justice done. Tony agrees and helps him abduct Ray and Lou. Andes shoots Lou dead when he attempts to flee, but Ray escapes. Tony tracks down Ray to the shack where Laura and India were killed. Ray admits to raping and murdering Tony's wife and daughter, calling him weak. Tony fatally shoots him but is blinded when Ray hits him on the head with a fire poker. Tony stumbles outside, shoots himself in the abdomen after falling on his gun, and dies. Shocked yet awed by the dark content and raw emotion of the novel, Susan reminisces about meeting Edward in college and their blossoming relationship, which Susan's domineering mother Anne Sutton objected to, claiming that Edward was not worthy of Susan's affections and that because of his romantic world view, he lacked the drive to achieve his goals; Susan ignored her mother's objections, eventually marrying Edward. Susan resumes her reading of the manuscript, beginning to recall her troubled marriage to Edward, which was strained by her frustration with his fledgling career and her dismissive attitude towards his literary aspirations. Edward still loves her and attempts to repair their relationship, but Susan is already involved with Hutton and divorces Edward. She chooses to abort her pregnancy with Edward's child to ensure her marriage to Hutton could not be held back. In the present day, Susan finishes reading the novel and arranges a meeting with Edward at a restaurant; however, Edward does not show up, and Susan is left waiting alone for hours as the restaurant empties.

Plot from Nocturnal AnimalsCC BY-SA 4.0