Audiences have never seen Nicole Kidman like she is in Destroyer. The Oscar winning actress portrays a LAPD detective, whose undercover work years earlier ended in the most troubling of ways. People died, money robbed from banks was never found and above all else—a family was born that never had a chance of succeeding due to its salacious beginnings.
Kidman is Erin Bell. Fifteen years before the “present” of Destroyer, she and Chris (Sebastian Stan)—a fellow LAPD undercover officer—infiltrate a gang with designs on robbing banks. They are led by the enigmatic Silas (Toby Kebbell), a man who desperately want to bring to justice. Most of the members of the gang aren’t the most hardened criminals. They are merely souls who are sucked into the charismatic web of Silas, all accompanied by a ton of liquor and drugs. The longer the pair are undercover, the more their desire to bring down Silas at all costs.
During one heist, it all goes south when the dye pack explodes on Silas—after he specifically demanded that the teller not put any dye packs in their duffel bags full of cash. Let’s just say that things don’t end well in that bank for many people, including a few gang members and innocents. That weighs heavily on Bell and it is something, all these years later, that is destroying her health, her relationship with her daughter and could jeopardize her career as her grip on reality seems to be blurring of late.
Not only does Kidman alter her appearance for Destroyer in a manner that recalls Charlize Theron’s physical alteration for Monster—but the Australian actress delivers a turn that is simultaneously haunting, tragic and all-consuming. It may be her most internalized and riveting characterization of her career. Her Bell is a ticking timebomb and considering that she is a mother of a 16-year-old girl who is classically acting out by dating an older man, skipping school and often not coming home for nights at a time, it is easy to see that the detective is not the same woman she was prior to going undercover all those years ago.
Director Karyn Kusama utilizes the brilliant script by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi to tell this tale in a manner that is loose with the timeline. The action frequently goes back and forth between that undercover gig of a decade-and-a-half ago and the present. Through her contacts, she learns that finds Silas is rearing his head once again. This is exactly what Bell has been waiting for—to finally put this man behind bars or six-feet under. Either one works.
In the hands of a less gifted filmmaker, going back and forth between a scar-inducing past and a troubled present could add up to a confused audience trying to put pieces together. Instead, with Destroyer Kusama has crafted a tense thriller and emotionally charged character study that showcases the personal and psychological costs that undercover work levies on those law enforcement individuals who go that extra mile to bring us justice. Kusama makes quite a statement as a storyteller, something we’ve seen her hint at with her previous work on 2000’s Girlfight and 2015’s The Invitation.
Hay and Manfredi delivered a screenplay that is rich with nuances that had to be of the utmost appeal for all the actors who answered the call. Kidman isn’t the only member of this cast to excel on every level. Stan (Captain America: Civil War) has the role of a lifetime as Bell’s partner. The two blur the lines of ethics frequently and through Stan’s undercover detective character, it is easy to see that this does not sit as well with him as it does Bell. The pair have electric chemistry that ricochets throughout the entire film. Kebbell’s turn as Silas is something truly extraordinary. He says so much with so little. I just adore performances like this, where the facial expressions and physical manifestation of emotive excellence carries more weight than the lines the actor delivers.
It is Kidman show, through and through. She grabs our lapels right from the opening scene and never lets it go, long after the credits roll. I witnessed this riveting flick days ago and I still cannot shake what Kidman gave of herself to make Destroyer deliver its power. It is the kind of role that begs the Academy to nominate. Will they? It’s hard to say, it is a “smaller” movie and it doesn’t seem to be building any buzz. She deserves a nomination, for that there is no question. This is unequivocally her best role… and yes, that is saying something.
Grade: B+