Fronted by a fierce and commanding performance from Nicole Kidman, who immerses both physically and mentally into the role of rogue police detective Erin Bell, Destroyer is an aptly titled look at finding justice for past wrongs no matter the personal cost.
In embodying Bell, Kidman acts like an unpinned grenade tossing herself from confrontation to confrontation without a glimmer of fear. Her impulsive nature is the film's greatest strength as the bluntness of Kidman's performance is mesmerising. She expertly communicates the self-destructive tendencies of a woman pushed to her limits and like a train crash waiting to happen, it's hard to look away.
Matching Kidman's unpredictable manner is the film's twisty screenplay that unfolds between Bell's time as an undercover agent in a Californian gang sixteen years ago to her present, coarsened self. As the film moves between timelines frequently, and with only cosmetic differences in Kidman's face to tell the difference, it occasionally becomes easy to get lost between the time shifts. However, as a reflection of how easily the past can come back to haunt the present in slight but damaging ways, the film succeeds with devastating effect.
Taken as an ode to violent means having violent ends, Destroyer is a finely tuned piece of gritty cinema whose blunt force lingers long after the credits.
In embodying Bell, Kidman acts like an unpinned grenade tossing herself from confrontation to confrontation without a glimmer of fear. Her impulsive nature is the film's greatest strength as the bluntness of Kidman's performance is mesmerising. She expertly communicates the self-destructive tendencies of a woman pushed to her limits and like a train crash waiting to happen, it's hard to look away.
Matching Kidman's unpredictable manner is the film's twisty screenplay that unfolds between Bell's time as an undercover agent in a Californian gang sixteen years ago to her present, coarsened self. As the film moves between timelines frequently, and with only cosmetic differences in Kidman's face to tell the difference, it occasionally becomes easy to get lost between the time shifts. However, as a reflection of how easily the past can come back to haunt the present in slight but damaging ways, the film succeeds with devastating effect.
Taken as an ode to violent means having violent ends, Destroyer is a finely tuned piece of gritty cinema whose blunt force lingers long after the credits.