Animal Kingdom is one of the darkest and most compelling crime movies I’ve seen in a long time. A very long time.The atmosphere here is absolutely brutal. The police are as ruthless as the criminals, whether they are ambushing and executing suspects or blackmailing the 17-year-old Joshua. They give Animal Kingdom a big part of its suspense as you never know what the police might do next. There is no ethical limitation on them, and they are capable of the most uninhibited violence.
Joshua’s family is no better. After the police frame and execute one of the family, the family ambushes and brutally kills some young policemen. One uncle regularly gets hyped on drugs, another lusts after Joshua’s girlfriend and has no inhibitions about killing at all. And Joshua’s aunt, who he moved in with after his own mother OD-ed, will kill or destroy anyone that threatens the family. Like the police, this group has no morality or limits either.
And the tension is further heightened when Joshua – young, soft-spoken, shy, immature and inexperienced – gets caught between these two violent, raging forces. He’s used and manipulated by the police and used and manipulated by his family. And both seem intent on destroying him for their own purposes. James Frecheville plays Joshua with a good ear and eye to teenage reticence among adults, and he nails the open, deer-in-the-headlights look of a teen who is earnestly trying to learn. And Joshua needs to learn fast. Animal Kingdom gets much of its power from our watching this innocent among such raging evil.There’s no elegance here to relieve the brutality either; in fact, the painfully lower middle class setting adds to the tone in its detail. The family lives in a characterless suburban ranch, and much of the action takes place in strip malls and small business franchises. It’s a harsh life in a prefab environment.
Michôd moves the plot along quickly with many sudden turns, constantly surprising the viewer with unexpected actions and sudden outbursts of violent strength. This is what Lou and I call a two-martini movie: one during the movie for pleasure and one after to relax.
