The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

17 year old Josh's mother dies from an OD which forces him to move back into his crime family. His grandmother (Jacki Weaver) is the Ma Barker type in that she stereotypically loves her boys perhaps a little too much in an unhealthy way. The beginning of the movie is filled with a lot of Josh's first person narration which introduces the characters as well as give us Josh's fatalist philosophy that is well beyond his age and maturity.His new family teaches him things he didn't learn living with his mother like: Washing your hands after you use the restroom, playing pull my finger, and using a gun for road rage. As a "crime family" they are rather unimpressive. Selling cocaine seems to be their major source of income and they have help with an inside man to do that. Josh wants out, but doesn't know how to do it.The film at times moves slow but is never dull. It is more drama than action. Josh (James Frecheville) is the main character and is seldom far from a scene.F-bomb. No sex or nudity.

This is one of those movies with a minimalistic style, yet a very powerful set of performances. It is a character based film, with surprising and complex situations. Each new turn, pushes the preconceptions of each roll to discover layers upon layers of emotional conflict. In Animal Kingdom is the survival of the fittest that prevails over family ties. Director David Michôd doesn't have to be flashy to construct an intense story full of dysfunctional relationships. Not to mention that the editing is as intriguing and suspenseful as the rest of the look of the film. The opening scene alone should be a prelude of a fantastic, emotional roller coaster.

Loved this film. Just didn't understand, if the cops were closely watching Baz (prior to murdering him), how they didn't see Pope (who they were said to really want above anyone) who was with him at the time. Also, It was too obvious J's girl going to the house after they'd split. It didn't need that as a tipping point for J, although it did set up the finale. Nit-picking I know, but it irked me. Otherwise a surprisingly intelligent, taught, and suspenseful thriller. Even though the characterisation was obvious, it worked to move the film along. I was glad it didn't fall into cliché with J looking up the the detective as a father figure. Acting was the stand-out feature. Excellent throughout the cast. Glad I found this gem.

A disaffected young man makes a fateful phone call when he discovers his mother dead on the living room sofa after an overdose.This compelling tale of the unraveling of a notorious crime family centers on Joshua, a nephew and apprentice brought into the fold after his mother's demise, despite her stated intentions to isolate and protect him from her mother and siblings. We soon realise why - the brothers are armed robbers, supported by their over-affectionate mother Janine (a creepily effective Jacki Weaver), currently lying low while the cops look for Pope, the leader of the group.Pope's menace is gradually built by keeping him off-screen for most of the opening. Ben Mendelsohn as Pope gives a performance that lives up to the billing, mixing calm deadliness with explosive rage. He kills by instinct and feels no remorse, the character who most embodies the film's title. When he turns on Joshua, this provides the main narrative line that reaches a shocking but merited conclusion.The camera stays close to the characters and the dialogue is fractured and in the vernacular. This makes it all the more gritty and real. James Frecheville as Joshua is our guide through this world, an unresponsive drone most of the time, till he is compelled to take charge by the threat to his own life and the inability of the authorities to protect him. One genre strand here is the worm that turned. Frecheville is stunning as the taciturn, immature young man who has to learn and grow up quickly in a hostile world.For a crime drama about a violent family the film admirably does not linger on the gun violence. One key turning point, the (alleged) murder of a family intimate by the cops, is rendered through a reaction shot with Pope. The revenge killing of policemen is shown in long shot through silhouettes. The drama avoids schlock violence to stay with the characters and their motivations, and is all the better for it.The cheap, tasteless interiors, scrubby front yards, daggy fashions, head-bumping masculinity and authentic Aussie accents reminded me of Snowtown, another film about violent men in anonymous Australian suburbs. Is this an emerging Aussie aesthetic? If so, I for one would like to see more.