REVIEW: Destroyer

Courtesy of Annapurna

Nicole Kidman is experiencing quite the career resurgence lately. She never really went anywhere, but over the last few years the actress has seemed determined to prove she can disappear into any role that casting directors throw at her. In 2018 alone, she took on three vastly different characters, each compelling in their own way. 

Perhaps most prominently (since the film has passed the $1 billion mark worldwide), she portrayed Aquaman’s regal mother. In Boy Erased, she also played the conflicted wife of a Baptist pastor who sends their son to a gay conversion camp. However, her most intriguing role is in Destroyer, a bleak thriller that opens in Atlanta theaters this weekend.

Directed by Karyn Kusama (who also helmed 2009’s criminally ignored Jennifer’s Body), the film follows a burned-out, morally compromised LAPD detective named Erin Bell (Kidman). It’s clear from the moment viewers meet her that she’s a disaster, but a series of flashbacks prove that wasn’t always the case. She was once a promising young recruit tasked with an undercover assignment alongside a charismatic FBI agent (Sebastian Stan).

Together, they must infiltrate a gang of bank robbers led by the mysterious Silas (Toby Kebbell) and report back before they make their big play. However, as the flashbacks continue to take on a foreboding tone, it’s clear that they’re building to a tragic event that destroys her life. Now, many years later, it appears that Silas has re-emerged, so Bell must track down the gang’s remaining members to find the man responsible for setting her on this ruinous path.

The plot of Destroyer, written by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi, isn’t going to win any awards for originality. It’s basically something you can see on a hundred cable dramas, with the novel spin that the unlikable anti-hero main character is a woman instead of a man. However, it’s that spin that allows Kidman to deliver one of the best performances of her career.

She’s virtually unrecognizable with an unkempt wig, pitch-black circles under her eyes, and skin cracking from years of abuse. But viewers also get to see the fresh-faced rookie she used to be. She demonstrates a range that’s remarkable to witness. Although it’s primarily a one-woman show, Kidman is bolstered in several scenes by a strong supporting cast, especially Stan as her partner and Bradley Whitford as a slimy lawyer.

Combine those elements with Kusama’s frenetic direction, as well as a narrative that plays with fractured chronology, and it’s enough to elevate the clichéd material in a way that makes the standard “bad cop” elements more intriguing. Destroyer is a tough watch, but Kidman makes it worth the journey.

Destroyer is rated R for language throughout, violence, some sexual content and brief drug use.

Grade: B