Nocturnal Animals appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Across the board, the transferred looked pretty good.
Sharpness was fine. A little softness occurred in some wide shots, but those didn’t become a concern. Overall definition seemed solid. I noticed no jagged edges or moiré effects, and the presentation lacked apparent edge haloes or other artifacts. I also saw no print flaws, as the movie always seemed clean.
In terms of colors, Animals reflected Hollywood’s modern fascination with orange and teal. As tedious as that has become, the colors looked fine within the design parameters. In addition, blacks were dark and tight, while low-light shots were decent; some could be a bit dense, but they weren’t bad. This was a generally positive presentation.
As for the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Animals, it lacked a ton of ambition. The soundfield focused on music and ambience, though it opened up a bit on occasion – in particular, scenes on the road boasted a little breadth. Nothing especially memorable occurred, though.
Audio quality was fine. Speech seemed natural and concise, without edginess or other issues. Music offered good clarity and range, and effects worked well enough. They didn’t have much to do, but they appeared reasonably accurate. All of this ended up as a perfectly satisfactory soundtrack for a character-driven movie.
The Making of Nocturnal Animals runs 11 minutes, 18 seconds and provides notes from writer/director Tom Ford, director of photography Seamus McGarvey, costume designer Arianne Phillips, producer Robert Salerno, and actors Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Isla Fisher, Ellie Bamber, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Armie Hammer, and Michael Sheen. The show looks at story and characters, cast and performances, cinematography and visual design. “Making” adds some decent information but never becomes especially fulfilling.
The disc opens with ads for The Zookeeper’s Wife, Loving, Frank & Lola, Desierto, The Edge of Seventeen, Bleed For This and A Monster Calls. Previews adds promos for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Closed Circuit, The American, Hanna, The Place Beyond the Pines, and Promised Land. No trailer for Animals appears here.
A second disc presents a DVD copy of Animals. It includes the same extras as the Blu-ray.
With its attempts to meld a variety of tales, Nocturnal Animals comes with ambitions it can’t fulfill. The movie lacks purpose and tends to use its various narratives as a gimmick. The Blu-ray provides generally positive picture and audio but it lacks substantial bonus materials. The film turns into a slow, shallow experience.