The act of revenge, or the act of inflicting hurt or harm on someone in response to a perceived wrong, has long been a staple of entertainment. There can be a certain cathartic satisfaction that comes with witnessing a villain receive his or her comeuppance, especially when the slight was personal and the retribution is delivered by the victim. Most revenge stories are fairly straightforward. The audience will witness some sort of misdeed against the protagonist, followed by the protagonist's journey to gain vengeance against the perpetrator. It is a simple story set up with room for plenty of variation. Other types of revenge stories can be considerably more subtle, and realistic, than the rampaging avenger leaving a trail of blood and bodies in his or her wake. The 2016 film, Nocturnal Animals, takes a look at both types. 
The film opens with Amy Adams' character, Susan, at the opening of an art gallery. It becomes clear that she is fully engrossed in the high-end art world. Her life has a very elegant and upscale sheen on the outside, but is awash in superficiality. Her husband, played by Armie Hammer, is cheating on her and she appears to have trouble maintaining her composure as a happy, well-adjusted person. The mundanity of her life is threatened when she receives a package in the mail from Tony, her ex-husband. The package includes a manuscript of a novel that he has written. Her reading of the novel, and the audience's viewing of her interpretation of the novel, takes up a good portion of the film and also shines a light on the traditional, violent, revenge tale.  
One point of view concerning the revenge tale draws a comparison to mankind's desire to believe in Hell. "The concept of Hell is both fascinating and revealing. Fascinating in that the concept is so patently farfetched, and revealing in that it represents the core belief that people who have been “bad” not only deserve to be punished, but deserve to be punished in the most horrific and dramatic manner possible—by being tortured by fire. Tortured by fire not for a mere hundred or even thousand years (which, apparently, would be a slap on the wrist), but for all eternity". No matter how altruistic the person, the enduring popularity of the simple revenge story stands as proof that humans love to see bad people receive their comeuppance.  
Revenge can be described as "an action provoked by a wrong, unlike aggression which requires no provocation. Similarly, revenge and punishment are distinguished by motivation and goals: revenge seeks to have the transgressor suffer while punishment looks to improve the transgressor’s behavior or to deter future bad behavior". In the case of Tony's novel in Nocturnal Animals, the protagonist, played by Jake Gylenhaal, is accosted on a deserted highway by a group of men. His wife and daughter are taken, raped, and murdered, and he works with a rogue lawman to find the perpetrators and bring them to vigilante style justice. This part of the film is dirty, mean, and visceral. There is no desire for justice or punishment through legal means. This is pure and simple revenge. It is a real counterbalance to the slick and polished world in which Susan resides.  
