One of Aaron Taylor-Johnson's Best Performances Is in This Disturbing Thriller

Despite his relative youth, Aaron Talyor-Johnsonhas been a fixture of genre storytelling for over a decade, having lent his talents to several major franchises. While joining just one recurring cinematic universe could be overwhelming for a young actor, Taylor-Johnson helped launch the darkly comic Kick-Assfranchise, added emotional heft to the Godzilla reboot, gave a unique interpretation of the mutant Quicksilver in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and is now set to play an iconic Spider-Man villain in the Sony Marvel Universe’s upcoming origin film Kraven the Hunter. If that wasn't enough, he's also rumored to be taking over the role of James Bond from Daniel Craig!

While his inherent charisma, impressive physicality, and wry sense of humor make him a very naturalistic protagonist, that doesn't mean that Taylor-Johnson doesn’t have a dark side. In a role that challenged every expectation viewers may have had of him, Taylor-Johnson delivered a terrifying, Oscar-worthy performance in the disturbing psychological thriller Nocturnal Animals.

What Is ‘Nocturnal Animals’ About?

Set within the world of elite art trading, Nocturnal Animals analyzes the personal life of the exhibit curator Susan Morrow (Amy Adams), whose marriage to her new husband Hutton (Armie Hammer) is crumbling due to his infidelity. As she is presenting a brand new art show, Susan receives an unexpected correspondence from her ex-husband, Edward Sheffield (Jake Gyllenhaal), a fiction writer who is excited to send her his new manuscript. Although she’s intrigued by his new work based on the contentious way their relationship concluded, Susan finds herself shocked and concerned when she begins reading Edwards’s book, as it contains many allusions to their real life. Nocturnal Animals utilizes a nonlinear narrative that flashes between moments of “reality” and recreations of a fictional work. It creates an immersive experience, as Susan begins to understand the connection between Edward’s story and the end of their relationship.

Director Tom Ford emphasizes the connection between the two interesting storylines by casting his lead actor in multiple roles. In addition to playing Edward in reality, Gyllenhaal portrays Tony Hastings, the hero of his story, in the recreations. Tony is a timid motorist driving through Texas at night with his wife Laura (Isla Fisher) and daughter India (Ellie Bamber). All is well until their trip is disrupted by the appearance of the vicious gang leader Ray Marcus (Taylor-Johnson). Taylor-Johnson plays a nightmarish version of what a fictional antagonist would look like; since he’s a character that Edward wrote to disturb Susan as much as possible, his aggressive tendencies are heightened.

While on the surface, he looks like a standard gang leader, Ray is a complex character whose actions imply a greater sense of aggression on Edward’s part. It becomes evident to Susan as she’s reading the manuscript that Edward intended the story to be an extended revenge fantasy where he gets to play the hero; this is evident once Ray abducts Laura and India, forcing Tony to work with the idiosyncratic police officer Detective Bobby Andes (Michael Shannon) to track them down. Taylor-Johnson never fails to make it clear that he is a fictional creation of Edward’s imagination; he somehow manages to make Gyllenhaal’s Edward even more sinister.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson Plays One of the Best Modern Film Villains

One of the pleasures of watching Nocturnal Animals is examining the two parallel stories and determining how they are connected; Tony’s experiences in the recreations embody his latent anxieties about his divorce from Susan. However, Taylor-Johnson ensures that the “story within the story” is the most compelling aspect of Nocturnal Animals. Even though this segment is presented as being fictitious, Ray is a haunting character who represents the worst of society. He has no motivations beyond causing pain to others and seems to revel in the sadistic pleasure of tormenting innocent families. At the same time, it's some of Taylor-Johnson’s greatest acting and wildly different from anything he’s ever done.

Although Gyllenhaal is playing dual roles and Adams has to hold the emotional weight of the story on her shoulders, Taylor-Johnson had the most challenging role in Nocturnal Animals. The character’s animosity is meant to reflect Edward’s simplicity as a writer, as he created a character specifically intended to aggravate his readers. Beyond simply being violent and evil, Ray is a disgusting character who lives on the fringes of society. To give him any notable traits, tragic backstory, or endearing qualities would be unrealistic considering Edward’s intentions for the character. While simplicity is often a challenging trait to embody, especially for an actor who's played as many complex roles as Taylor-Johnson, Ray’s apathy comes across perfectly.

Once it becomes clear that the “story within a story” is really a slice of male revenge fiction, Taylor-Johnson does a great job of showing Ray’s cowardice and weakness. As Andes and Tony descend upon Ray, ending closer to finally getting justice for Tony's family, Taylor-Johnson does an effective job of making Ray a disgusting and pathetic creep rather than the larger-than-life villain we perceive him as earlier in the film.

Why Was Aaron Taylor-Johnson Snubbed for an Academy Award?

While Nocturnal Animals was earmarked as a potential Academy Awards contender right from its debut at the 2016 Venice Film Festival, the film’s acting campaign had one of the weirdest award runs in recent memory. Despite winning the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor, Taylor-Johnson’s performance in Nocturnal Animals was snubbed by the Oscars, who opted to nominate Shannon instead. The last time the Golden Globe Best Supporting Actor failed to receive an Academy Award nomination was Richard Benjamin for The Sunshine Boys back in 1976.

The snub was certainly surprising considering how often the Academy Awards nominate villainous performances. While missing out on the recognition for some of the best work of his career was likely a disappointment, Taylor-Johnson’s strong slate of upcoming projects suggests he will most likely be in the awards race again sometime soon. An actor of his age with so many years ahead of him has more than enough time to prove himself in the eyes of Oscar voters.

Nocturnal Animals is available to rent on Amazon.

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