Does Nicole Kidman Find True Love in Destroyer?

I’m not gonna lie.  After screening Destroyer, I was like what the hell did I just see?  There are just enough flash back sequences that confused me about the plot.  After mulling it over, I now have a little more clarity.  Erin Bell (Nicole Kidman) is an undercover LAPD cop who has literally lost control of her life…or at least the life she thought she was going to have.  When a bank heist goes wrong, Erin loses the love of her life, her career spins out of control and so does the self-control she has over her own vices.  The one thing Erin can control is making sure that there one person she holds responsible for it all pays and pays big.

Nicole Kidman is unrecognizable as Erin Bell and is giving a performance we have never seen from her.  Audiences will gasp and be delighted all in the same breath.  Bradley  Whitford as DeFranco is also sharing a performance that will take folks by surprise.  Shamier Anderson is holding his own with Kidman and Toby Kebbell  will make your blood run cold as the murderous Silas.  Tatiana Maslany is giving a layered, yet compelling turn as Petra.  Directed by Karyn Kusama, Destroyer will keep you on the edge of your seat with all of its plot twists and turns. Kusama makes the city of Los Angeles its own silent character of Destroyer, which provides much of the grime, grit and backdrop for such a dark, love story.

Right before the screening, audience members were treated to an AFI honor Q&A  “An Evening with Nicole Kidman.”  Kidman, who has two films this year (Boy Erased, Destroyer) in addition to her HBO series Big, Little Lies, spoke very candidly about her character and the accusation of Erin being a little too masculine stating  “You have to have a life to then be able to go and put it into your art. And I’ve had a crazy life,” she said, turning to the audience and laughing. “I’m a highly sensitive person. And I attach very strongly to people — and with that comes all the emotions that are attached to that, and that then gives me the world to draw from.”

There was a beautiful on-screen tribute to Kidman featuring numerous highlights of her career.  It was in this moment, that I came to the realization of just how HUGE a Nicole Kidman fan  I literally am.  Honestly, I have seen every film she’s ever made and it goes without saying that even if the film may fall short…Nicole Kidman never disappoints.

Produced by 30 West and Annapurna Pictures, audiences will be able to screen Destroyer in a theatre near you on Christmas Day.