Destroyer

Annapurna Pictures | Release Date: December 25, 2018

5.8	USER SCORE Mixed or average reviews based on 80 Ratings

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LamontRaymondJan 5, 2019

I've never seen a movie where the final 6 minutes (less the last shot) were the absolute BEST part of the movie. It's got major pacing issues - it's too slow throughout. You want to shake the director and editor and say, "let's get a moveI've never seen a movie where the final 6 minutes (less the last shot) were the absolute BEST part of the movie. It's got major pacing issues - it's too slow throughout. You want to shake the director and editor and say, "let's get a move on!" But when it comes together at the very end, it sort of makes it all worth it.… Expand

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

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Brent_MarchantJan 12, 2019

nnAlthough a bit sluggishly paced at times, this crime saga about the search for justice and redemption is a surprisingly good thriller with an excellent lead performance by Nicole Kidman in a decidedly different role. The clever storytellingnnAlthough a bit sluggishly paced at times, this crime saga about the search for justice and redemption is a surprisingly good thriller with an excellent lead performance by Nicole Kidman in a decidedly different role. The clever storytelling format, coupled with a no-holds-barred approach to the action sequences, make for an intriguing (and at times shocking) saga, made all the better by inventive editing, an eclectic but well-orchestrated mix of cinematography styles and a carefully measured sequence of revelation. This one's getting an undeserved bad rap in some critical circles, so go see it for yourself and make up your own mind; you may well come away pleasantly surprised.… Expand

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

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mohamad91hkMay 9, 2019

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Nice movie and amazing performance by Nicole Kidman, i think she deserves an Oscar nomination at least in her role in ''Destroyer''.

Her acting and her zombie makeup make you truly feel how is she suffering from her past, she lives deeply into her role to give us that amazing performance.

The writers used flashback and flash forward style in the movie, which was nice and give the audience more suspense during the movie. Also the shifting between these two timeline was perfect and smooth which make you comfort and not confused in the movie, so you can figure out easily what's going on.

The only thing that i didn't feel it in the movie is the undercover operation. honestly i think no need for undercover operation!!! i didn't feel there was a really dangerous gang, they look like a normal people. i think they had to show more about how this gang is dangerous and how the infiltration is difficult.… Expand

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Bertaut1Feb 1, 2019

A superb central performance elevates a quotidian plot

Written by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi, and directed by Karyn Kusama, Destroyer is an unashamedly pulpy genre piece, confrontationally ugly and unapologetically nihilistic. EssentiallyA superb central performance elevates a quotidian plot

Written by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi, and directed by Karyn Kusama, Destroyer is an unashamedly pulpy genre piece, confrontationally ugly and unapologetically nihilistic. Essentially the story of a damaged cop determined to settle one last score, what Destroyer brings to the table is that the archetypal "he" of such narratives is here a "she", with Kusama relying heavily on Nicole Kidman's performance to do most of the heavy lifting. Although the film has the tendency to approach every scene with an air of self-seriousness that can become grating, there are undeniably individual moments of great brilliance here.

LAPD homicide detective Erin Bell (Kidman) is burnt out. Following her efforts to find Silas (Toby Kebbell), the former leader of a bank robbery crew, the film tells the parallel story of Bell trying to raise her daughter, Shelby (Jade Pettyjohn). Revealing via a series of flashbacks that 17 years prior, Bell and then partner, Chris (Sebastian Stan), were given an undercover assignment to bust Silas and his crew. Posing as a couple, they infiltrated the group, but fell in love for real, with subsequent events resulting in the broken person Bell has become.

Although Kusama doesn't explicitly foreground it, gender politics are an important aspect of the film. Much has been made of Kidman's physical transformation, although both Kusama and Kidman have argued that her appearance is not what the film is about, nor should it be critics' focus. Still though, we're not quite at a point where a woman altering her appearance for a role is unremarkable, and like Charlize Theron in Monster (2003), Kidman's commitment to the part must be applauded. She commits to Bell as an unlikable, violent, and psychologically ruined character, which in and of itself challenges conventional notions of what a female lead should be. Embittered and irredeemable, Bell is the type of person usually played by a man, and it's to the film's credit that it resists the urge to soften her, with Kidman's performance haunting, disturbing, and heartbreaking all at once. The flashback structure is also important here, as Kidman plays Bell very differently in these scenes - her hair is more kempt, her skin smoother (via some subtle de-ageing VFX), her eyes don't droop, her gait is more upright, she smiles a couple of times, her voice is more authoritative. A stark contrast to the woman we initially meet.

Of course, she's also a mother, and like so many male archetypes, she has not been there for her child. This compels the audience to ask questions regarding how men and women are perceived on screen - is a woman neglecting a child more forgivable than a man doing so, or less; do we simply expect women to automatically be good mothers in ways we never consider in relation to men as fathers? What do our presuppositions about motherhood on screen say about us?

Aesthetically, Kusama's LA is deeply cynical and owes a sizable debt to Michael Mann. A place of dried out waterways, burnt grass, a glaring sun, endless concrete, pollution, corruption, betrayal, graffiti, and indiscriminate violence the city is shot by Cinematographer Julie Kirkwood in washed-out anaemic hues, with lots of sun spots and lens flares (although she uses a more saturated palette in the flashbacks).

Of course, there are problems. For the most part, the screenplay is unoriginal and without the power of Kidman's performance, this would have been a straight-to-disk. The script also seems to be teasing the audience with the promise of a big reveal that will transpose Bell's story into something more esoteric. The first season of True Detective employed this technique as well, but when the show pulled the trigger, the reveal was worth the wait. In Destroyer, it's hard to be certain if there even was a reveal. The script is aiming for profundity, but it's nowhere near as smart as it thinks it is. Along these lines, Kusama makes some very strange directorial choices, such as shooting a group of skateboarders in chiaroscuro and extreme slow-motion, not once, but twice. What exactly is their significance? Why does Kusama shoot them as if they are offering some kind of life-altering revelation? Are they supposed to act as a chorus? Are they a metaphor for something?

Destroyer is an average story elevated by the commitment of its lead and some laudable aesthetic work. It's a cynical and humourless film noir aspiring to something more substantial, but never really attaining it. However, its unflinching depiction of devastating emotional trauma, presenting Bell as an open wound, slowly bleeding out, is brilliantly handled. The complete inverse of films which depict characters responding to tragedy with humour, optimism, and determination, Destroyer is brutally nihilistic, giving us a character whose obsession is both keeping her alive and killing her.… Expand

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DawdlingPoetNov 20, 2021

This is a really quite edgy, gritty and raw type thriller film, with Nicole Kidman giving a strong performance in the main lead, as a very determined officer, willing to do whatever it takes to ger her target. It has the feel of a somewhatThis is a really quite edgy, gritty and raw type thriller film, with Nicole Kidman giving a strong performance in the main lead, as a very determined officer, willing to do whatever it takes to ger her target. It has the feel of a somewhat underground film, not so much that its a b-movie in tone but more in terms of the plot details, the dark tone of it I suppose. Its not entirely a film with lots of glitz and glamour, of course. I felt Kidman was very convincing in this film and it felt quite engrosing, although the somewhat shaky camerawork at times did put me off a little. Its relatively absorbing and intriguing, plot wise, with the viewer slowly learning more about Erin Bells background as the film continues.

The incidental music played, mostly edgy stringed instrument type music (like that used in Hitchcock films), is relatively good at adding to the general sense of uncertainty and the doubt of who will be the first to blink, if you know what I mean, although it is perhaps a little loud now and again. In that sense, its quite intriguing, even 'mean and moody'. I suppose Kidmans character is someone that many parents and police officers may/can relate to, to one extent or another. Its a relatively fast paced (if in short bursts) and frantic watch, raw and well characterised film which I'd recommend.… Expand

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geewahJan 4, 2021

A strong yet understated performance from Kidman in a movie that's more about someone struggling with decisions made in the past than it is a crime/cop movie

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