Review of Animal Kingdom (2010) by Matt W — 21 Nov 2013

What a pay off. Can we just talk about the ending? No spoilers?! Fine.

Animal Kingdom is a very powerful film that works on it's underplayed performances that slowly unravel and become more prominent as the movie goes on. Some of the performances could literally be defined as onions. This is where the film works best, with it's characters as some performances will seem almost a little too downplayed until certain points where suddenly the real emotions come forward, and it is the definition of an 'emotional gut-punch'.

The story is simple. A study on how a teenager gets absorbed into his families' criminal underworld, and the effects and consequences they have on each other, and the people they love most etc. You've seen the story before. But it is different in the fact that nothing is ever dramatized, it is all downplayed and is given on a small scale.

Jacki Weaver gives the most interesting performance as the grandmother and mother to the different characters. The way her character unfolds throughout the story is almost a little terrifying, as her true colours start to appear.

The ending is extremely powerful, and the performances are truly great. The story is a little generic in places, but as a whole it really works, and is griping from start to finish.