What’s next for Amy Adams?
Leonardo DiCaprio’s lack of acclaim from the Academy whipped audiences up into a verbal frenzy, with fans of the actor rejoicing when he was finally awarded the Oscar for ‘Best Actor’ after his performance in The Revenant. Similar uproars have occurred over many other snubs, but perhaps one of the most outrageous is the lack of critical acclaim for Amy Adams, who has continually portrayed some of the most contradictory and gritty characters in modern cinema.
Whether it be the heavy moral conscience of Sister James in Doubt, the dark underbelly of Sharp Objects and The Master or the timeless impact of Arrival, Adams hasn’t produced a single bad performance. Her work takes you on an emotional odyssey through some of the most tumultuous aspects of the human experience, making you empathise with characters who should spark outrage and feel for those who have simply been dealt a poor hand in life.
However, in recent years, it seems as though Adams herself has been dealt a difficult hand, starring in controversial films that have largely been labelled as critical failures and box office flops, from Ron Howard’s disastrous film Hillbilly Elegy, The Woman in the Window and the more recent catastrophe Nightbitch, directed by Marielle Heller.
The film was supposed to be a career revival for Adams, with the film premiering at the London Film Festival in 2024 and being described as a satire on motherhood and the nuclear family unit. The production had been announced a few years earlier, with the description of the project painting it as a Yorgos Lanthimos-esque and surrealist film about a woman who believes she is turning into a dog after giving birth. However, the actual film seemed to miss the mark completely, with people slamming the confused style and bizarre tonal qualities that led it to be nothing like the film that was initially described.
At one point in her career, Adams seemed to be a clear favourite for one day obtaining the coveted golden statue, with countless roles that marked her as one of the most exciting performers of her generation through collaborations with auteurs such as Paul Thomas Anderson, Spike Jonze and Denis Villeneuve. But with a recent string of flops, what could be next for Amy Adams? Is she aiming for the same heights that she seemed to be destined for?
The actor will soon be starring in a television adaptation of Cape Fear for Apple TV, based on the original film directed by Martin Scorsese. Starring alongside Javier Bardem and executive produced by Scorsese himself, perhaps this project will be another step in the right direction, with the actor also starring in the highly anticipated adaptation of Klara and the Sun, directed by Taika Waititi.
Alongside Jenna Ortega and Natasha Lyonne, perhaps a foray into the literary world will add a new dimension to her filmography and appeal to a different fan base, perhaps opening up her filmography by taking on such a beloved text.
While many recent book-to-film adaptations have been completely disastrous, with the obvious being the failed attempt to bring Collen Hoover’s story to the silver screen, Kazuo Ishiguro’s book undoubtedly contains more substance than the highly problematic It Ends With Us, and maybe this will be the role to bring back Adams’ former glory. I would love for this to be the case, although the presence of Waititi is ringing alarm bells in my head after his role in the Marvel universe, but maybe the director has more tricks up his sleeve that will pair well with the actor.
