Animal Kingdom (2010)
Average Rating: 8/10
Reviews Counted: 146
Fresh: 141 | Rotten: 5
With confident pacing, a smart script, and a top-notch cast, Animal Kingdom represents the best the Australian film industry has to offer.
Average Rating: 8.2/10
Critic Reviews: 28
Fresh: 27 | Rotten: 1
With confident pacing, a smart script, and a top-notch cast, Animal Kingdom represents the best the Australian film industry has to offer.
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Average Rating: 3.9/5
User Ratings: 27,033
My Rating
Movie Info
A youngster is given an inside look at a criminal empire that also happens to be his family in this independent drama. Teenage Joshua Cody (James Frecheville) is suddenly on his own after his mother's drug habit catches up with her, and he's taken in by his grandmother Smurf (Jacki Weaver), usually regarded as the black sheep of the family. Joshua quickly learns Smurf's reputation is well deserved; she and her four sons are members of a mid-level crime syndicate that operates out of her home in
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Cast
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James Frecheville
Joshua 'J' Cody -
Ben Mendelsohn
Andrew 'Pope' Cody -
Joel Edgerton
Barry 'Baz' Brown -
Guy Pearce
Detective Senior Sgt. N... -
Luke Ford
Darren Cody -
Jacki Weaver
Janine 'Smurf' Cody -
Sullivan Stapleton
Craig Cody -
Daniel Wyllie
Ezra White -
Anthony Hayes
Detective Justin Norris -
Laura Wheelwright
Nicky Henry -
Mirrah Foulkes
Catherine Brown -
Justin Rosniak
Detective Randall Roche -
Susan Prior
Alicia Henry -
Clayton Jacobson
Gus Emery -
Anna Lise Phillips
Barrister Justine Hoppe... -
Tim Phillipps
Const. Daniel Hordern -
Josh Helman
Const. Peter Simmons -
Kieran Darcy-Smith
John Harrop -
Jack Heanly
Andy Emery -
Andy McPhee
Richard Collis -
Christina Azucena
Dacinta Collis -
Jacquie Brennan
Sarah Leckie -
Ben Ouwehand
Scott Leckie -
Anthony Ahern
Armed Robbery Detective -
Bryce Lindemann
Paramedic #1 -
Paul Smits
Paramedic #2 -
Michael Vice
Hood #1 -
Chris Weir
Hood #2 -
Sarah Nguyen
Waitress -
Lucia Cai
Cashier -
Ann Michôd
Shopper -
Michael Cody
Police Radio -
Bert Labonte
PSG Santo -
Paul James Saunders
PSG Gary -
Dom Phelan
PSG Tom -
Brenda Palmer
Smurf's Neighbor -
Tom Noble
Court Warden -
Daniel Roche
SOG -
David Michôd
Reporter
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Animal Kingdom Trailer & Photos
All Critics (149) | Top Critics (28) | Fresh (144) | Rotten (5) | DVD (9)
It's not unique, but as a distillation of a well-worn genre, it's admirable.
Top CriticThe film establishes a menacing, unsparing mood that never wavers.
The naturalistic style Michod employs adds to the sense of dread. Is there no way out of this existence? To whom would it appeal?
Dark and mesmerizing.
It's a remarkable film: gritty, gut-churning, thrillingly acted.
Writer-director David Michod creates a densely textured moral universe that makes good on his metaphoric title.
Gets under your skin and in your head.
Animal Kingdom is frequently shocking - not just because it makes Air Supply's 'I'm All Out Of Love' sound cool.
Just as the protagonist announces from the outset that crime doesn't pay, in Animal Kingdom grime doesn't play.
A diverting conceptual fictional crime family pic.
An intimate portrait of a criminal family that resembles the Mafia in virtually no way.
Animal Kingdom has been dubbed an 'Australian GoodFellas'. Director David Michôd isn't as flashy as Scorsese, but his portrayal of the violent downfall of a dysfunctional family of criminals shows that he's a master at building slow-burning tension.
No es frecuente ver este tipo de firmeza narrativa y profundidad dramática y psicológica en una ópera prima (...)
Michôd takes familiar material and approaches it with less emphasis on the sensational and more on the surreal atmosphere of accepted dread.
Writer/director David Michôd pumps the plot full of tension through layers of increasingly dangerous and volatile characters until it's almost unbearable.
An ambitious and effective thriller.
Animal Kingdom is skilfully lit and edited and the performances are remarkable.
A brooding Australian thriller that marks director David Michôd as a talent to watch.
It includes enough localised details about the changing nature of crime and the debilitating bonds of family to give it a distinctive voice all its own, ensuring it never feels like a Hollywood rip-off.
Writer/director David Michod handles his material with great confidence, allowing some powerful acting.
Animal Kingdom shocks, surprises and amazes but never seems false or unreal. A great film.
Audience Reviews for Animal Kingdom
"Mom kept me away from her family because she was scared. I didn't know it at the time, but they were all scared, even if they didn't show it [...]. Even if they didn't know it, exactly. Even if they were having to do what crooks do all the time, which is block out the thing they must know - they must know it - which is that crooks always come undone, one way or another. [...] All this seemed strange to me, but not strange, either, you know what I mean? Kids just are wherever they are, and they just do whatever they're doing. This is where I was, and this is what I was doing."
Josh's mom has just died of a drug overdose, and he tells us all this over the opening ten minutes, punctuated by a few telling conversations, as we see the family that he has no choice but to move in with, and the crimes he won't be able to help getting mixed up in. With the die cast, the stakes remain high, as this coming-of-age story has an angle like few others; as opposed to having to prove himself in the world of crime, Josh needs only to survive. Tense and well-acted, sincere but gritty, it's got several surprises and most importantly, comes across as a story that could be true. An unconventional crime flick that you must see.
Super Reviewer
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- Joshua 'J' Cody: After my mom died, this is just the world I got thrown in.
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- Janine 'Smurf' Cody: [crying] I'm having trouble trying to find my positive spin. I'm usually very good at it. Usually it's right there, and I can just have it. But I'm having trouble finding it now.
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- Andrew 'Pope' Cody: It's a crazy f*ckin' world.
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There is something extremely unpleasant in the atmosphere of this film. It has odd hypnotic power and moments of true life horror. When film's main protagonist Joshua learns the codes and the ways of criminal way, it is horrifying as it is sad to see his downfall as a person.
While Animal Kingdom definetly delivers with it's mood, it does not entirely convince when it comes to acting. There is one major problem in this film and that is James Frecheville's performance as a Joshua. He is nothing else than a blank face. There are no feelings or certainly anykind of passion behind his characters eyes. Joshua is like a zombie and it is hard to believe that it was the intention here. Some might argue that it was made on purpose but for me Frecheville's performance is nothing but confused and amateurish acting. This is a film that would need a much more interesting leading character.
Without Frecheville's weak performance this could have been something masterful. Still with it's flaws Animal Kingdom is quite remarkable film. It is well above the typical crime films and has haunting quality in it. This is a film worth to see.