What is the film Animal Kingdom about?
Animal Kingdom is a 2010 Australian crime drama directed by David Michod. It follows a teenager who moves in with his criminal relatives in Melbourne after his mother dies, and is drawn into a violent world.
James Frecheville plays Joshua Cody, known as J, who goes to live with his grandmother, Janine Cody, and her sons, a family of armed robbers and drug dealers. Police pressure and revenge killings soon put J in danger.
The film was loosely inspired by real events in Melbourne's criminal underworld in the 1980s, including the Walsh Street police shootings of 1988.
Jacki Weaver's performance
Jacki Weaver played Janine, nicknamed Smurf, the smiling but ruthless matriarch of the family. Her performance earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
The cast also included Ben Mendelsohn, Joel Edgerton and Guy Pearce. Animal Kingdom won the World Cinema Jury Prize for drama at the Sundance Film Festival in 2010.
It swept the Australian Film Institute Awards, winning ten awards, including Best Film. A United States television series based on the film ran from 2016 to 2022.
Did You Know?
Animal Kingdom was David Michod's first feature film.