The main reason for this is that Tony isn't real, he's just a character in the book Susan is reading. Paired with one of the best performances that Jake Gyllenhaal has ever given you would think it would be one of the greatest characters in cinema but unfortunately, he is not. The character transformation of Jake Gyllenhaal's character Tony is incredible and rivals the likes of Michael in The Godfather and Miles in Into the Spider-verse. Nocturnal Animals tells the story of a woman (played by Amt Adams) reading a book written by her ex-husband (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) about a man (also played by Jake Gyllenhaal) whose wife and daughter are brutally raped and murdered while he is powerless to stop it and shows his moral decent as he tries to get justice.
Nocturnal Animals is an exceptional and very layered meta commentary of art when it comes to the themes and ideas that are developed but is incredibly bland in every other area.