Destroyer (2018)

Stephen Campbell July 12, 2019

★ 7/10

**_A superb central performance and an impressive aesthetic design elevate a quotidian plot_** > _I think women are constantly reminded of the biological circle of life, the giving of life, the end of life, and I feel like we are so defined by and bound to our biological capabilities. I wanted to imagine the masculine construct of narrative filmmaking in Western civilisation having a different feeling. And to me, there is something about the circular shape of the story that begs for reconsideration of everything you've just seen. It invites a deeper look, a recontextualising. And I feel lik__e that process, which is quieter, and demands insight and self-reflection is inherently female or feminine, given the culture we live in right now, which is so fast, so aggressively linear, and in many respects, completely unreflective. So there was just something to me about the idea that the aud…

gricket February 24, 2021

**Starring... Nicole Kidman's Wig and Fake Crow's Feet** The final moments of this film came with what was supposed to be a dramatic fade out of the haggard, liver-spot riddled face of the protagonist evaporates into what is supposed to be wave of glorious white light. Only there is no glory in this film. As we are reminded at the end as we stare at the barely human image of latex over-spray clogging Ms. Kidman's nostrils, we have to wonder what would have possessed her to take this role. Most of her acting in the film consists of her proving apparently that beautiful actresses who collectively spend the GDP of a small nation to look forever young can play dress-up and do boring and ugly on request. I found it to be an affront to both quality acting and homely women. The plot is a redemption arc turned on its head with a twist of non-linear story-telling and "hide the salami" which…