Animal Kingdom

MPA Rating: for violence, drug content and pervasive language.

Relevant Issues

robbery in the Bible

murder

death

drug dealer, heroin, cocaine, smack, pot

cruelty

mental illness / madness

sadism

family relationships / father daughter / mother daughter

husband wife relationship

boyfriend girlfriend relationship

brother brother relationship

stoicism

self destruction

revenge

police corruption

incestuous overtones

violence

Featuring	Ben Mendelsohn (Andrew “Pope” Cody), Joel Edgerton (Barry Brown), Guy Pearce (Leckie), Luke Ford (Darren Cody), Jacki Weaver (Janine Cody), Sullivan Stapleton (Craig Cody), James Frecheville (Joshua 'J' Cody), Daniel Wyllie (Ezra White), Anthony Hayes (Det. Justin Norris), Laura Wheelwright (Nicky Henry), Mirrah Foulkes (Catherine Brown), Justin Rosniak (Det. Randall Roache), Susan Prior (Alicia Henry), Clayton Jacobson (Gus Emery), Anna Lise Phillips (Justine Hopper), Anthony Ahern (Armed robbery detective), Christina Azucena (Dacinta Collis), Jacqueline Brennan (Sarah Leckie), Lucia Cai (Cashier), Michael Cody (Police Radio), Kieran Darcy-Smith (John Harrop), Jack Heanly (Andy Emery), Josh Helman (Const. Peter Simmons), Bert Labonte (PSG Santo), Bryce Lindemann (Paramedic #1), Andy McPhee (Richard Collis), Ann Michôd (Shopper), David Michôd (Reporter), Sarah Nguyen (Waitress), Tom Noble (Court Warden), Ben Ouwehand (Scott Leckie), Brenda Palmer (Janine’s neighbour), Dom Phelan (PSG Tom), Tim Phillipps (Const. Daniel Horden), Daniel Roche (SOG), James Saunders (PSG Gary), Paul Smits (Paramedic #2), Michael Vice (Hood #1), Chris Weir (Hood #2)
Director	David Michôd
Producer	Porchlight Films (Darlinghurst, Australia), Screen Australia, Libby Sharpe, Vincent Sheehan, Bec Smith, Liz Watts
Distributor	Sony Pictures Classics, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment

“a crime story”

Here’s what the distributor says about their film: “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. The only grounding in J’s life is his girlfriend, Nicky Henry. With those casualties comes an investigation by Homicide Detective Senior Sergeant Nathan Leckie, who knows the Codys are involved in some of those deaths. As Leckie tries to get J on his side, J has to figure out how best to get himself out from the middle, where he trusts neither side. J also wants to figure out how to exact what he considers justice in an all around bad situation.”

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