Review: Destroyer – “Powerful, unusual and haunting”

Directed by Karyn Kusama
Starring Nicole Kidman, Sebastian Stan, Toby Kebbell, Tatiana Maslany, Scott McNairy, Jade Pettyjohn

The detective haunted by past mistakes is such a regular part of the crime movie, that it can be tempting to shrug your shoulders when you see another, but that would be a mistake in the case of Destroyer. Yes, it does mine that oft-excavated vein of mistakes and regrets, but there are several aspects to it that I found made it stand out from so many others. First of all it’s relatively rare to see a woman in the haunted, broken detective role (let alone a woman who carries much of the film), secondly the film takes a very realistic, almost dirty approach to its world and its characters (there is no glamour here, no stylised Noir look to soften the brutality and the regrets, Julie Kirkwood’s outstanding cinematography alternates lonely highways, bleached sunlight or miserable rain, or decrepit, filthy apartments), and thirdly, there is an absolute stand-out (and indeed Golden Globe-nominated) performance from an almost unrecognisable Nicole Kidman (hats off to Bill Corso, Tamil Lane and the rest of the make-up team).

Kidman’s Erin Bell is a burned-out LAPD detective, fallen from her heights as a hot-shot, undercover FBI agent. The special make-up and her performance combine to give us a woman who isn’t just haunted by past mistakes, she’s all but broken under their weight, everything from her blotchy skin and dishevelled hair and clothes to her limping walk and body posture indicates someone not just burdened with a heavy past, but someone who is deep in self-loathing and guilt from it. This isn’t just the mistakes made, this is a person who hates themselves. As the film progresses we flashback between the case Bell is investigating now and the one which went so wrong during her FBI days, the two less colliding together, more being woven into one narrative separated by the years.

The film takes a much more realistic approach than many other crime films – when people fight here there are none of the usual tropes of a grunt when hit then our hero gets right back up, when Bell gets punched, she falls like a real person in pain, throwing up, bleeding. That lack of glamour extends well beyond Kidman’s disfiguring make-up and shabby appearance, even to a sex scene which is possibly one of the least erotic I’ve seen in cinema (a grudging, miserable sex act performed as the price for information, another part of her eroded self-respect worn away). Her self-loathing has alienated all around her, from her partner in the force to her estranged husband and an out of control daughter, everything she is involved in seems toxic, and yet there are hints here of a desperation for some sort of redemption, to help her daughter, to stop her partner being dragged into her mess.

Toby Kebbell’s Silas (the criminal behind the incident which ruined her career and toxified her life), and her former FBI partner and lover Chris (Avengers’ Sebastian Stan) both offer excellent support, while the structure of the film toys a little with our expectations of just what mistakes younger Bell made, revealing pieces, tying in to the present-day case and narrative in a very satisfying way, aided by that atmospheric cinematography, the sight of the younger Bell contrasting strongly with the older, ruined version. But really this is Kidman’s film, she buries herself into the role of Bell, emotionally, physically and mentally, you can feel the damaged edges of Bell’s life, the raw guilt that leaves her feeling that she doesn’t deserve any better, yet still clutches at a chance for some tiny redemption. I’m not going to risk spoilers by going into the plot too much, besides a lot of what works here is the atmosphere, the visuals and the raw, damaged, emotionally-scarred performance by Kidman. A powerful, unusual and haunting addition to the cop with a dark past oeuvre.

Destroyer is released on Digital Download from May 20th, and on DVD and Blu-Ray by Lionsgate from May 27th.