Animal Kingdom

David Michôd's Melbourne-set Animal Kingdom is a sharp and somber crime drama. It opens with teenager J (James Frecheville), waiting for paramedics to arrive, impassively watching Deal or No Deal while sitting beside the body of his recently overdosed mother. In a later scene, the sociopath Pope (a coldly effective Ben Mendelsohn), J's uncle, sulks watching Air Supply on TV, while Antony Partos' sinister, droning score rises up to join the cheesy pop tune. This incongruous mix of the banal and the deadly is personified in the character of Smurf (Jackie Weaver, in an Academy Award-nominated turn), J's affectionate grandmother, whose cheerful smile and batting blue eyes camouflage a ruthless manipulator. Smurf and her criminal brood take in the affectless J, and he soon becomes involved in their misdeeds, which are being tracked by the police department's overzealous Armed Robbery Squad. Leckie (Guy Pearce), a well-meaning cop, tries to get J to turn on his family as their battle with the police intensifies. Animal Kingdom is a darkly cynical and brooding film, a slow-burner that builds tension by putting pressure on its increasingly unstable and paranoid characters, while the camera smoothly, coldly glides around them. The movie may not have much new to say about families, cops, or criminals, but Michôd's stylized direction and his cast's skillful delivery leave a lasting impression.