Animal Kingdom (2010)

For independent research into thrillers, I watched the movie 'Animal Kingdom'.

'Animal Kingdom' is an Australian crime thriller directed by David Michôd. It was released in 2010  and follows the story of 17 year old Josh Cody (J) whose mother dies of a heroin overdose right at the start of the film. We see J watching TV looking very bored with his mother sitting next to him when she overdoses and the audience learns that J may be used to death to close family members due to him being very emotionless of his mothers death. He then has to move in with his Grandmother Janine Cody (Smurf)
who is the matriarch of the notorious Melbourne Cody family who are associated with armed robbery's and drug dealing. They are under close surveillance by the police.

The films tone is set by the opening title sequence as we see a selection of CCTV camera stills of armed men in banks, possibly being carried out by the Cody's. The blurry stills of the armed robbers sees them wear masks which look like sea creatures or insects which suggests that they might be in some sort of evolutionary disaster which could wipe them out. When the title 'Animal Kingdom' appears on top of a picture with 3 lions engraved, the lion in the center is standing much taller than the other 2 suggesting that this lion has much more significance (which connotes the Cody family, with the character Andrew 'Pope' Cody being a dangerous sociopath, the most notorious of the family). Just from the opening sequence we can expect this film to be about crime and a 'pack of lions' - the pack of lions being the Cody family because of the family being so fierce, wild and unpredictable.

The Cody family are a generic convention of what is seen in the thriller genre. Including J, the Cody family have dark pasts which include immoral acts. Also another generic convention which is seen in the thriller genre is the family doing various black-market activities, such as arms and drug taking and dealing. We also have Janine Cody being a very deviant women. Other generic conventions include: characters being on the run from the police, the police themselves, the death of innocent victims and romantic triangles leading to murder.

The generic locations the director uses within the film are mainly claustrophobic areas to establish the genre. For example we have the Cody's home being claustrophobic, also the home is dirty suggesting that the people who live there are dirty and don't care about what they do. Another part within the film where the director uses a small area is when J has to go into witness protection and the motel. Next another generic location within the film is the use of open locations, for example when Craig Cody (the middle brother) is on the run from the police he goes to a very dry, dead open location connoting that he is very vulnerable to danger.  We also have the props which are generic to thrillers e.g. Guns.

Following the generic locations, we have the generic aspects of lighting. In the photo of the claustrophobic space of the home, the lighting is very dim, connoting dark people live within it. Also the sequence when J's girlfriend is murdered has very dark lighting; we focus much more on the characters and their actions rather than the environment around them. We also notice that the colors worn by the characters are plain and dark. This scene is very emotional and has power to it due to it being shot in slow motion.










Camera angles/shots

Throughout 'Animal Kingdom' many close up shots are used on the main characters so that the audience can keep in touch with their emotions. An example of a close up would be the sequence when Craig is on the run  and spots the police coming. By this close up we can see that Craig is feeling deep fear. Another scene is when J encounters Pope, by this close up of J we can see that J is in worry as well as fear. The audience also notices that J is in an open and vulnerable location.


A generic camera shot to establish the genre used in the film are vanishing points. The image below is from the sequence when the two police men go to inspect a suspected stolen car. The policemen are driving into grave danger. Another vanishing point shot would be when J gets away from Pope, the camera goes out of focus and becomes blurry.

The film also has many point of view shots. The majority of these point of view shots are done from view of the main character who is J. These are used to put the audience in the eyes of the character. An example of a point of view shot is one of the last sequences of the film.

Point of view shot

Close up of J 

Over the shoulder shot 

Close up of Craig after noticing
the police

Vanishing point

Vanishing point of J running from Pope