Directed by David Michod. Starring Ben Mendelsohn, Joel Edgerton, Guy Pearce, Jacki Weaver, James Frecheville Sullivan Stapleton, James Frecheville 15A cert, QFT, Belfast; Cineworld/ IFI/Light House, Dublin, 112 min
The disintegration of a dangerous Australian crime family is traced in this harrowing, award-winning drama, writes DONALD CLARKE
GLANCING AT the glowing US reviews of this relentlessly unsettling Australian crime drama, one is struck by a glaring (though understandable) omission. The pundits note the brooding sound design and the consistently visceral performances all come in for praise.
To any viewer on these islands, however, the setting in Melbourne's suburbs – not to mention the presence of Guy Pearce – calls up unavoidable comparisons with a certain popular soap opera. Imagine a methadone nightmare experienced after consuming several boxed-sets of Neighbours. Madge has become a ruthless, murderous mater familias. Scott runs junk for a living and decapitates policemen for recreation. It's best not to imagine what has become of poor old Bouncer.
Animal Kingdomfocuses on a hardened family of villains named Cody. When young J Cody's mother dies of a heroin overdose, he is sent to live with Smurf (Jacki Weaver), his terrifying grandmother, and her three errant sons. Comparatively wide-eyed despite his recent ordeal, J (James Frecheville) is soon witness to any number of horrors.
Somewhere between a rabble and a functioning gang, the family is composed entirely of sociopaths. Useless Craig (Sullivan Stapleton) deals almost as many drugs as he uses. The chilling Pope (Ben Mendelsohn), nominal kingpin, seems entirely driven by malice and paranoia. Presiding over the household like an unholy blend of Lady Macbeth and, well, Madge from Neighbours, Smurf allows her passion for family to overcome any residual commonplace morality.
The story is fairly perfunctory. When the police kill a Cody associate, Pope nudges the family towards a series of retaliations that eventually cause the innocent to die and persuade J to reconsider his loyalties. The depiction of the police tends towards the barmy: Detective Pearce is fearsome; many of his colleagues belong in the Keystone Kops.
Still, Animal Kingdomcan't be faulted in its efforts to summon up poisonous atmosphere and to flesh out notably unsettling characters. Filmed in soupy, sickly shades and featuring sinister drones on the soundtrack, the film offers more terrifying grotesques than you'd fear to encounter in a Hieronymus Bosch theme park.
Weaver secured a deserved Oscar nomination for her disingenuous glad-handing, but even her fine turn pales before Mendelsohn’s disgusting performance as the unravelling Pope. To paraphrase a well-known song, this is not the class of good neighbour everybody needs.
