Animal Kingdom is the debut directorial feature film from David Michôd. Essentially it is an Australian gangster film. It currently holds a fresh rating of 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. Not a bad way to start for any director. The main character in the film is played by another debutant to the big screen, James Frecheville. He is superb in the role of the youngest member of the family, Joshua “J” Cody. The film also stars Ben Mendolsohn, Joel Edgerton and Guy Pearce as supporting cast. If I’m being honest the only member of the cast I had heard of before was Guy Pearce as a result of him starring in many Hollywood movies like L.A. Confidential and Memento. However after reading further into what other members of the cast had featured in, I realised that I had also heard of Jacki Weaver. The reason why I and others of you may recognise her name is due to her Academy Award nominations in previous years for Animal Kingdom and this years feel good movie, Silver Linings Playbook. In both movies she plays a mother, but the roles couldn’t be any more further apart from one another. In Animal Kingdom, Weaver’s character is very matriarchal and in a subtle way is the ‘Godfather’ of this gangster family, although she doesn’t commit much crime. Interestingly in 2011 she lost out to another actress, Melissa Leo who played the mother, in another good film, The Fighter. I don’t think Weaver can have to many complaints about losing, however good her portrayal in this film is.

Above: Jacki Weaver

The storyline for Animal Kingdom starts out dark, with the death of J’s Mother, who overdoses on Heroin. You already get the sense from this opening scene that it is going to be good. It’s not the death that is key part to this opening scene, it is the opening dialect between J and his Grandmother played by Weaver. The acting that is on display in this film is second to none. Maybe I’m missing out on a trick by not watching enough Australian films. It doesn’t mean that all of a sudden I’m going to start watching Neighbours or Home and Away. I can’t stress enough how good the acting is by the cast. I will certainly look out for any future films by the cast members. It isn’t just the key roles that are played well, even the minor roles down to the family lawyer is played superbly.

The violence that is in the film isn’t off putting and there isn’t too much violence, it’s what you would expect from a gangster movie. There are some emotional parts with in the film that may upset some viewers. The ending is the best bit, but I will say I guessed it was going to happen, before it was shown on screen, only because of what had happened in previous scenes. My consensus for this film is that it’s an incredible film and well worth watching. I bought the film for £5, in my eyes money well spent. I personally look forward to anything by the director of Animal Kingdom in the future. 9/10 (A modern classic gangster film, the 21st century’s answer to The Godfather.)