Did Susan actually have a daughter?
In Nocturnal Animals, Susan is shown calling her daughter after reading an excerpt from her ex-husband's novel.
Mama?
Is that you? Is everything OK?
Yes, everything is fine.
I just wanted to hear your voice. I miss you.
You woke me. I'm still in bed. Sunday morning, Mom. Can I call you back?
Yes. Invite me later. Go back to bed, honey.
You sound strange. Are you OK?
I'm fine. I'm fine. Back to bed. I love you.
Me too.
What I don't understand is that Susan had an abortion earlier in her life, aborting the child that was conceived with her ex-husband.
This movie is also full of metaphors, which is why I am questioning this scene with her daughter. To my knowledge, her daughter is never mentioned during any other part in the movie.
Did Susan actually have a daughter or was this conversation some type of metaphor? If she actually does have a daughter, who is the father?
Best Answer
Actually it's the book that is full of metaphors. The book presents a metaphorical reference to how Edward felt when he lost his wife and child.
ref : Nocturnal Animals Explained
Susan is so disturbed by this that she calls her daughter to check on her. This daughter of her's is not Edward's but is Hutton's. It is not mentioned explicitly that Hutton and Susan have a child, but looks like they did.
A point to note here is the dead body of India is lying in the same posture as Susan's current daughter. This is done to amplify the analogy for us, the audience.
In short, yes she does have a daughter. And it is indicative that the father is Hutton.
Also, Susan's daughter is played by the actress named "India". In the book, Tony's daughter's name is also "India". I don't know if this was intentional. But in spite of this connection, Susan's daughter is not Edward's because they haven't met after the abortion in 19 years.
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Did Susan actually have a daughter in Nocturnal Animals?
In short, yes she does have a daughter. And it is indicative that the father is Hutton. Also, Susan's daughter is played by the actress named "India". In the book, Tony's daughter's name is also "India".Can someone explain the ending of Nocturnal Animals?
WHAT IS THE NOCTURNAL ANIMALS ENDING EXPLAINED? Tony tracks Ray to the shack where Laura and India were killed, forcing him to admit to his crimes. Although Tony fatally shoots the culprit, he's blinded when Ray hits him in the head with a fire poker.What happened to Edward at the end of Nocturnal Animals?
Not only was Edward horribly burned by Susan's mistreatment of him, but he has also continually been burned by society after being consistently told he's not good or strong enough. And so he wrote Tony, a semi-heroic vigilante, as an aspirational character.Why does Edward not show up in Nocturnal Animals?
The three individuals that ruined his life, appeared out nowhere. That's how Edward probably felt about the divorce and the abortion. Susan is Ray, the major culprit in this story. In Edward's eyes, she took away their chance of being happy together, when she decided to leave him and not have his baby.Narnia - Why Susan Deserved Better
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Answer 2
The daughter in the scene is living on her own, in bed naked with another man. So the implication is that she is at least 18 years old. It's been 19 years since Susan and Edward divorced, and presumably that long since the purported abortion, so considering the gestation period of a human, and the time passed, either this daughter doesn't really exist except in Susan's mind (fantasy to get through the guilt) or it is actually Edward's daughter and the abortion never happened, and that's what Hutton meant when he said Edward will never know!
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Images: Andrea Piacquadio, Ketut Subiyanto, Kamaji Ogino, Any Lane