“Pungent scene by scene and bracing in its cumulative impact, Michôd’s movie suggests what Aeschylus might have had in mind, if the House of Orestes had been fond of seafood barbeques.”
Michôd’s debut feature is – we think – a modern classic that takes a decidedly unglamorous look inside the claustrophobic confines of an Australian family of professional criminals.
When his mother dies from a heroin overdose, seventeen year old Joshua is passed into the care of his grandmother – and fearsome matriarch to her own sons – Janine “Smurf” Cody (a genuinely terrifying Jacki Weaver).
Animal Kingdom is a brutal, bloody and quite brilliant drama in which family loyalty is stretched to the absolute limits. Also stars Guy Pearce and Ben Mendelsohn.
