I watched Nocturnal Animals (2016; 7.4 imdb) on Netflix just now, several years after Chefguy.
The movie – which is a “realistic” horror story – is a stark psychological thriller, with lots of soul-searching and lots of symbolism. This is NOT my genre, and I definitely do NOT recommend the film for anyone looking for a good time. BUT the sheer starkness and multi-level symbolism is impressive. I can’t think of another film at all like it.
Tom Ford was the renowned Creative Director of Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, winner of 30+ major awards – even I had heard of him. Tom Ford seems like it might be a common name so I first assumed that the Tom Ford who wrote, produced and directed Nocturnal Animals was a different guy. Nope, same polymath, whose degree is in architecture. A random excerpt from his Wikipedia bio:
I also found the ending (or perhaps the entire movie!) confusing but Google’s AI was happy to explain it to me. Edward, who never appears to Susan except in flashbacks, is taking revenge on Susan for abandoning him. His no-show for dinner is the final tit-for-tat of that revenge.