Animal Kingdom
- Director: David Michôd
- Writer: David Michôd
- Producer: Libby Sharpe; Vincent Sheehan
CGiii Comment
This is up there with the best Australian dramas ever made.
Deeply complex - expertly handled.
The subtext will keep you guessing.
Fine, fine work.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
Despite being no saint herself, Julia Cody has shielded her seventeen year old son, Joshua "J" Cody, from her Melbourne-based criminal relatives who they have not seen in years. After Julia dies in front of J's eyes from a self-inflicted heroin overdose, J, who is slightly detached from life, feels he has no choice but to contact his maternal grandmother, Janine "Smurf" Cody, the family matriarch, for a place to live. Smurf rules the family with a borderline incestuous love over her three sons, the quietly menacing Andrew "Pope" Cody, the hyperactive Craig Cody, and the barely of age Darren Cody. Pope and his best friend, Barry "Baz" Brown, are armed robbers, with Darren their up and coming apprentice, while Craig is a mid level drug dealer. Melbourne's Armed Robbery Squad is after specifically Pope, who is hiding out. But when the standoff between the Codys and the Armed Robbery Squad is brought up a notch, an all out war ensues, with some casualties and J caught in the middle.
Cast & Characters
James Frecheville as Joshua 'J' Cody;
Bryce Lindemann as Paramedic #1;
Paul Smits as Paramedic #2;
Jacki Weaver as Janine 'Smurf' Cody;
Joel Edgerton as Barry 'Baz' Brown;
Luke Ford as Darren Cody;
Sullivan Stapleton as Craig Cody;
Mirrah Foulkes as Catherine Brown;
Anthony Ahern as Armed Robbery Detective;
Justin Rosniak as Detective Randall Roache;
Michael Vice as Hood #1;
Chris Weir as Hood #2;
Laura Wheelwright as Nicky Henry;
Sarah Nguyen as Waitress;
Lucia Cai as Cashier