Animal Kingdom (2010)

Highly Recommended

Australia

Feature Film

Writer/Director: David Michôd

Cinematographer: Adam Arkapaw

Composer: Antony Partos

Cast: James Frecheville, Ben Mendelsohn, Joel Edgerton, Guy Pearce, Luke Ford, Jacki Weaver, Sullivan Stapleton, Dan Wyllie, Anthony Hayes, Laura Wheelwright

When his mother dies of a heroin overdose, leaving him all alone, 17-year-old J moves in with his estranged grandmother and career criminal uncles, who soon have him mixed up in their suicidal war with Victoria Police Department’s corrupt Armed Robbery Squad, in Michôd’s vital, poetic, and painfully authentic feeling slice-of-lowlife drama, which features a number of excellent performances. Iain.Stott