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Generally, when people think of Australian cinema they turn to Mad Max, Crocodile Dundee, the early work Peter Weir or perhaps even Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. What they do not traditionally think of gritty crime dramas, making a harsh and brooding tale like Animal Kingdom a very welcome surprise. This is a tale of family, loyalty and vengeance in a dark and brutal environment where only the strongest may survive.
Animal Kingdom is a film that immediately forces the audience to recognise the darkness of its world by opening with J (James Frecheville), the film’s 17-year-old protagonist, being forced to move in with his criminal relations after his mother dies of a heroin overdose. His new-found family of relatives are all sufficiently terrifying, meaning that the film that is never dull as, although the outbursts of actual violence are very rare thanks to these characters, the sense of threat and building tension remains constant. Indeed, the performances in the film are genuinely excellent with nobody letting the side down, meaning throughout you never doubt them even if they suddenly turn out to be a psychopath. Amongst the cast, though, particular credit has been given to Jackie Weaver who earned herself a Best Supporting Actress nomination at the Oscars for her role as J’s grandmother and criminal matriarch who is utterly formidable as she looks out for her boys. Yet this undersells the rest of the actors, particularly James Frecheville for whom this is his only second feature film and yet he remains compelling and convincing throughout.
The film also works very well on a technical level: the score and sound design maintain a deadly serious and dark tone, oozing out tension and really helping to set the feel of the piece. The script buzzes along well and, by reducing the actual onscreen violence to a minimum, makes it far more shocking to it when it appears and adds a real sense of weight to the film. While maintaining a dark edge, the film never goes over the top or becomes an irredeemably bleak work. That said, the film does have its flaws, most notably a couple of the characters (such as J’s girlfriend) feel slightly underwritten and detract a little from the overall flavour. It does take a little while to get going, and once it gets there, it occasionally looks like it’s going to lose its footing. Fortunately, though, it never does so, maintaining a fine balance which eventually leads to a very effective payoff.
The result is a fascinating tale of testing loyalties and corruption that is arguably one of the best crime dramas of recent years. Convincing and intelligent throughout, Animal Kingdom works on most levels and, although occasionally flawed, this does not really undermine the tension and brooding sense of fear and dread that emanates from the escalating series of nightmarish events, which all makes for a fantastic debut for director David Michod who hopefully has great work ahead of him.
See Animal Kingdom at City Screen, York. Check the cinema's website for times and further details.
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