Review of Animal Kingdom (2010) by Carol F — 01 Mar 2011

Animal Kingdom is interesting, if not overlong and perhaps a little dull in parts. Other than these minor slip ups the tone is perfect, a complex mix of hope and impending doom, due to perfectly twisted performances from Jackie Weaver's hideous matriarch and Ben Mendelsohn's overbearing and unpredictable criminal leader. As well as being perfect in tone, the score can be described in the same way. Each swell of sound adds to the perpetual torment that Josh (James Frechville) suffers from his inability to escape his family's clutches.

To start with, the tone set by first time director David Michod, is grimly taut and uncomfortable throughout. In Animal Kingdom nothing is certain. A very intelligent script and superb turning points keep the audience on their toes and ultimately eradicate any predictability that may have been present. Never do we think that we know what will occur, instead we are kept continuously guessing and often left entirely uncertain as to what the final devastating outcome of the film shall be. This sublimely tremulous tone never relents, not even for a moment, forcing the audience to continue watching, often without even giving us a clue as to what unforeseen event shall take place next.

The distinct use of sound in Animal Kingdom is possibly as compelling as the sombre and vacillating tone. As the music swells in a momentous crescendo, the scene builds to a climax, yet suddenly we switch to the next scene, but the score continues in its ascension of volume. This unique use of sound permits the mood of the previous scenes to constantly and undeniably maintain its presence without having to reassert itself too literally, until the next chronological scene builds to its own independent climax.

As well as boasting a vast number of aspects that are exceptional, the acting manages to meet the level of excellence of these aforementioned aspects. James Frechville's subdued Josh is entirely empathetic, not only because he loses both his mother and his girlfriend, but because he simply cannot escape the family of crime without resorting to the methods used by the family itself. This deprecation of morality is indefinitely interesting as we witness Josh's behaviour become more violent even though we know he is mostly a decent person. However, Jackie Cleaver's semi-incestuous matriarch is the most startling performance in Animal Kingdom. She is constantly overbearing, and unsettlingly close to her sons, as well as revealing herself to be more than simply the mother of the group.

Although the film works on a number of different levels, the tone and the use of sound are particularly exceptional, the film does seem overlong, predominantly in the final scenes of the film, when the outcome of the past hour and forty minutes is leisurely dragged out at a glacial speed. This minor quibble not only impedes the enjoyment of the film, but reduces the effectiveness of the remarkably carefully constructed mood that Michod has spent so long crafting. Even though this quandary does hinder the enjoyment of the final scenes, the film still manages to be intriguing without sacrificing believability, something which is truly hard to come by in the age of high concept CGI 3D nonsense.