Animal Kingdom: Critic Reviews

The Melbourne of Michod's gripping allegory is a jungle of robbery, drug dealing, and dirty law-enforcement officials among the clean.

The film's depiction of the raw fear lurking below the brothers' braggadocio is the most pronounced emotion in a movie whose focus on the personalities of its criminals suggests an Australian answer to Goodfellas, minus the wise-guy humor.

Animal Kingdom is skilfully lit and edited and the performances are remarkable.

This is maybe the nearest we're going to get to an Australian GoodFellas.

The story meticulously unfurls like an apple carefully peeled in one long ribbon to reveal its rotten core.

You probably won't see a better directorial debut this year than David Michod's Animal Kingdom, [a] coiled rattlesnake of a family-crime drama...

Michod wants a Greek epic but doesn't have the material.

A phenomenal debut feature with a terrific title.

It's a remarkable film: gritty, gut-churning, thrillingly acted.

Animal Kingdom is a lean, patient crime thriller about one kid's transition from prey to predator.

Michod serves up Trainspotting-like tricks and narration that is beguiling, if rarely apropos. But the actors are something.

Writer-director David Michod creates a densely textured moral universe that makes good on his metaphoric title.

Animal Kingdom explores the down and dirty side of human nature, fraught with greed, suspicion, and betrayal.

This strong, assured Australian crime tragedy takes the time to dig into characters who would race past us like blurs in a stock thriller, endowing them with a rare depth and emotional truth.

Dark and mesmerizing.

The naturalistic style Michod employs adds to the sense of dread. Is there no way out of this existence? To whom would it appeal?

It's hard to take your eyes off Mr. Mendelsohn whenever he's onscreen. So creepy, so seductive, so scary-his stillness is more disturbing than when he's forced into action.

Seethes rather than burns in its first hour as the banality of evil settles in like mildew.

Animal Kingdom is a genre picture designed to get under your skin and in your head, a thriller that repulses even as it draws you in.

The suggestion that the authorities may comprise a clan that's as ruthless and amoral as the Browns also adds a pleasingly cynical edge that's often lacking in other crime dramas.

A criminal procedural tilting to Greek tragedy.

It's a distinctive, ominous and hypnotic work of cinema.

A naturalistic approach to an underworld story from Down Under is a welcome relief from exaggerated Hollywood fare.

Watching this small-time Melbourne crime family unravel under the weight of their overconfidence is riveting, as Australian writer-director David Michod takes his time methodically detailing their self-destruction.

Writer-director Michod demonstrates an eerie virtuosity for someone just getting into feature films after apprenticing in award-winning shorts.