MUBI

Watch unlimited films online for $6.99.
Try MUBI for FREE.

Learn More

Animal Kingdom

Australia

2010

112 Min

Color

2.35:1

English

Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
1
2
3
4
5

EXEC Vincent Sheehan, Bec Smith

CAST Guy Pearce, Ben Mendelsohn, Joel Edgerton, Luke Ford, Jacki Weaver, James Frecheville, Sullivan Stapleton, Dan Wyllie, Anthony Hayes

MUSIC Antony Partos

Sundance (World Cinema Dramatic Competition): Jury Prize, Stockholm (Competition): Best Screenplay, Rotterdam (Bright Future), !F Istanbul (Hit Films), Cine//B (Australia: Imperfect Paradise)

Synopsis

Welcome to the jungle known as the Melbourne underworld. Animal Kingdom uses this edgy locale to unspool a gripping tale of survival and revenge.

Pope Cody, an armed robber on the run from a gang of renegade detectives, is in hiding, surrounded by his roughneck friends and family. Soon, Pope’s nephew, Joshua “J” Cody, arrives and moves in with his hitherto estranged relatives. When tensions between the family and the police reach a bloody peak, “J” finds himself at the center of a cold-blooded revenge plot that turns the family upside down.

Wielding a formidable cinematic lexicon, writer/director David Michôd shows complete command of every frame as he shifts between simmering intensity and gut-wrenching drama. There isn’t a false note in the film as it follows through on the tantalizing promise displayed in his short films and unleashes a fierce new voice in Australian cinema. —Sundance Film Festival

Wall

Displaying 4 of 73 wall posts.

see all

hakaima sadamitsu

25May12

Just fucking great. And as much as this was Jacki Weaver's show, Ben Mendelsohn totally creeped the fuck out of me.

Rossoneri Ultra

13May12

You sure forced that animal wildlife analogy didn't you David Michod?

David Gaillardetz

8May12

An intense and immensely powerful and entertaining movie.

Peter

1May12

As a fan of edgy and extreme cinema, I've seen a host of villians portrayed in any number of horrific contexts. I must confess, however, that upon reflection I'd have to say that Jacki Weaver's Mama Smurf is one of the most frightening, even bone-chilling, characterizations I've yet witnessed. There is also much to admire in the spare, yet quite effective use of sudden violence to punctuate the sustained tension the film so effectively creates.

Related Films

Fans

Displaying 5 of 440 fans.

see all

Sophie Olive

The Lost Films

Scott

arimneste

rotulecomefrisbie

Articles

Our roundup of essays and articles on this film.

NY Film Critics, Australia's 2010 and More

By David Hudson on December 13, 2010

And on it rolls. David Fincher's The Social Network has taken the top awards from the New York Film Critics Circle: Best Film and Director

read article

"Animal Kingdom"

By David Hudson on August 10, 2010

David Michôd's Animal Kingdom screens tonight at 9 at the Walter Reade Theater in New York as part of the Film Comment Selects series before

read article

2010 So Far, Part 2. Random Roundups

By David Hudson on April 14, 2010

More of a supplement to Part 1 than a second half, this collection of roundups on films screening at Sundance, Rotterdam, Berlin and SXSW this

read article

Showtime Adapting David Michod's ANIMAL KINGDOM For The Small Screen

By Twitchfilm.com on December 19, 2011

We have not been shy about our love for David Michod’s Animal Kingdom in these pages, the Sundance winning Australian crime drama that netted Jacki Weaver an Oscar nomination. Based on a real life Melbourne

→ read on Twitchfilm.com

ANIMAL KINGDOM UK BluRay review

By Twitchfilm.com on December 16, 2011

Animal Kingdom might look small-scale on paper, but David Michôd’s moody Australian crime drama has a fairly broad scope. The film tracks the bickering and feuding between a Melbourne family of armed robbers

→ read on Twitchfilm.com

ANIMAL KINGDOM Review

By Twitchfilm.com on May 17, 2011

[Tomorrow is the strongest release day of the year and so we are taking the opportunity to pull our reviews of the key new release titles back up to the top of the stack. Our thanks to Ryland Aldrich……

→ read on Twitchfilm.com

David Michôd talks Sundance selection

By Twitchfilm.com on May 17, 2011

The man with the most famous circumflex in Australian filmmaking – and the bane of sub-editors everywhere – David Michôd, bounced back into headlines again last week with the news that not one – but two

→ read on Twitchfilm.com

Sundance 2010: First Teaser Arrives For David Michôd's ANIMAL KINGDOM

By Twitchfilm.com on April 30, 2011

Welcome to the jungle known as the Melbourne underworld. Animal Kingdom uses this edgy locale to unspool a gripping tale of survival and revenge.Pope Cody, an armed robber on the run from a gang of renegade

→ read on Twitchfilm.com