Last night, PJ and I watched Animal Kingdom from Netflix. This Oscar nominated Australian film is gritty crime movie told from the perspective of 17-year-old Josh. As the film begins, Josh’s mother dies from an overdose, forcing him to move in with his grandmother and uncles, who are professional back robbers.

The cops are on to the family’s criminal activities, creating an increasingly tense climate as the police resort to drastic measures to “punish” the family for its crimes. As the violence escalates, Josh has to decide whose side he’s on: the corrupt police or his corrupt family. It’s not an easy choice.

Here’s the trailer:

Overall, I really liked this movie. The acting and directing are excellent, even if some of the plot twists are hard to believe — it’s sometimes difficult to believe that anyone would make such stupid choices when confronted with a situation as volatile and violent as Animal Kingdom depicts. Even so, I really liked it.

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