Nocturnal Animals
Susan Morrow receives a book manuscript from her ex-husband – a man she left 20 years earlier – asking for her opinion of his writing. As she reads, she is drawn into the fictional life of Tony Hastings, a mathematics professor whose family vacation turns violent.
Working with a respectable budget of $22.5M, the film achieved a steady performer with $29.3M in global revenue (+30% profit margin).
Plot Structure
Story beats plotted across runtime
Narrative Arc
Emotional journey through the story's key moments
Story Circle
Blueprint 15-beat structure
Arcplot Score Breakdown
Weighted: Precision (70%) + Arc (15%) + Theme (15%)
Nocturnal Animals (2016) reveals precise plot construction, characteristic of Tom Ford's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 14-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 1 hour and 56 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 7.2, the film balances conventional beats with creative variation.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 2 minutes (2% through the runtime) establishes Susan wakes alone in her sterile, luxurious LA home, emotionally hollow despite material success. Her marriage to Hutton is cold and distant, establishing her disconnected status quo.. Of particular interest, this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 14 minutes when Susan receives a manuscript from her ex-husband Edward titled "Nocturnal Animals" (dedicated to her), disrupting her emotionally numb existence after nearly two decades of silence.. At 12% through the film, this Disruption aligns precisely with traditional story structure. This beat shifts the emotional landscape, launching the protagonist into the central conflict.
The First Threshold at 29 minutes marks the transition into Act II, occurring at 25% of the runtime. This shows the protagonist's commitment to Susan becomes fully absorbed in the manuscript's violent story. She commits to reading it completely, crossing the threshold into confronting her past betrayal and Edward's message., moving from reaction to action.
At 58 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 50% of the runtime—precisely centered, creating perfect narrative symmetry. Significantly, this crucial beat In the manuscript, Tony discovers his wife and daughter have been raped and murdered. Susan simultaneously learns Hutton is having an affair—false victory collapses as both narratives reveal devastating betrayals., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 88 minutes (76% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, In the manuscript, Tony kills his family's murderer but accidentally shoots himself in the process, dying alone. Susan realizes Edward's message: she murdered their love, and he has symbolically killed the man she destroyed., reveals the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Synthesis at 93 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 81% of the runtime. Susan waits at the restaurant, hopeful and vulnerable. Time passes. She orders drinks, checks her phone repeatedly. Edward never arrives—his final act of revenge is to let her feel the abandonment she inflicted on him., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
Nocturnal Animals's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 14 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs proven narrative structure principles that track dramatic progression. By mapping Nocturnal Animals against these established plot points, we can identify how Tom Ford utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish Nocturnal Animals within the drama genre.
Tom Ford's Structural Approach
Among the 2 Tom Ford films analyzed on Arcplot, the average structural score is 7.0, demonstrating varied approaches to story architecture. Nocturnal Animals represents one of the director's most structurally precise works. For comparative analysis, explore the complete Tom Ford filmography.
Comparative Analysis
Additional drama films include Eye for an Eye, South Pacific and Kiss of the Spider Woman. For more Tom Ford analyses, see A Single Man.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Susan wakes alone in her sterile, luxurious LA home, emotionally hollow despite material success. Her marriage to Hutton is cold and distant, establishing her disconnected status quo.
Theme
Susan's colleague comments on her art exhibition about American emptiness, mirroring the film's theme: when we choose security over authentic love, we become hollow vessels.
Worldbuilding
Establishment of Susan's wealthy but empty life: her struggling gallery, distant husband, lonely mansion. Flashbacks introduce her past relationship with Edward, a sensitive writer she once loved.
Disruption
Susan receives a manuscript from her ex-husband Edward titled "Nocturnal Animals" (dedicated to her), disrupting her emotionally numb existence after nearly two decades of silence.
Resistance
Susan debates whether to read the manuscript, haunted by memories of how she left Edward. She begins reading alone at night while Hutton is away, reluctantly pulled into Edward's fictional revenge narrative.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
Susan becomes fully absorbed in the manuscript's violent story. She commits to reading it completely, crossing the threshold into confronting her past betrayal and Edward's message.
Mirror World
The manuscript's Tony Hastings character (Edward's fictional avatar) helplessly watches his wife and daughter kidnapped on a dark Texas highway—mirroring how Edward watched Susan slip away.
Premise
Susan reads deeper into the violent revenge narrative while flashbacks reveal her affair and pregnancy with Edward. The manuscript's exploration of masculine powerlessness reflects Edward's emotional castration by Susan.
Midpoint
In the manuscript, Tony discovers his wife and daughter have been raped and murdered. Susan simultaneously learns Hutton is having an affair—false victory collapses as both narratives reveal devastating betrayals.
Opposition
The manuscript intensifies with Tony's vengeful hunt for the killers. Flashbacks show Susan's mother warning her against Edward, Susan's abortion of Edward's child, and the final dissolution of their marriage.
Collapse
In the manuscript, Tony kills his family's murderer but accidentally shoots himself in the process, dying alone. Susan realizes Edward's message: she murdered their love, and he has symbolically killed the man she destroyed.
Crisis
Susan sits devastated, fully confronting her guilt and the wasteland of her current life. She weeps over the manuscript, finally feeling the emotional consequences of her choices nineteen years prior.
Act III
ResolutionSynthesis
Susan waits at the restaurant, hopeful and vulnerable. Time passes. She orders drinks, checks her phone repeatedly. Edward never arrives—his final act of revenge is to let her feel the abandonment she inflicted on him.
Transformation
Susan sits alone at the empty restaurant table, tears streaming down her face, transformed from emotionally numb to devastated. She finally feels the full weight of loss—the punishment Edward designed through his art.