By: Lana K. Wilson-Combs
You?ve never seen
Nicole Kidman like this before. In the gripping drama,
?Destroyer? Kidman abandons her bubbly, glamour girl persona and portrays a grimy, hard-knock veteran LAPD detective named Erin Bell.
Although it?s been 17 years since detective Bell lost her partner, Chris (Sebastian Stan, ?Black Panther,? ?Avengers: Infinity War?) during an undercover sting gone horribly wrong, she hasn?t been able to completely move on with her life.
In a series of flashbacks, we discover that Chris was killed by a guy named Silas (Toby Kebbell, ?War for the Planet of the Apes?), the leader of a group of bank robbers that she and Chris were about to take down.
This storyline gets even more juicy because Erin and Chris were lovers and she had his baby. It?s years later now and Erin can barely take care of herself much less raise her rebellious teen daughter Shelby (Jade Pettyjohn, TV?s ?School of Rock?), whose older boyfriend Jay (Beau Knapp, ?Death Wish?) is a real loser.
When police get a new lead in this cold case involving Silas and the robbers who made away with millions of dollars, Erin is eager to provide some useful information to the cops. Problem is, they see her as an old washed up alcoholic and don?t want her help.
Consequently, Erin decides to take matters in her own hands and hunts down the psycho. Along the way, Erin gets a big assist from one of Silas? associates (Tatiana Maslany, ?Stronger? ?Orphan Black) who he has also ticked off.
Revenge really is a dish best served cold.
While ?Destroyer? zig-zags often with an overuse of flashback scenes, screenwriters Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi (?Ride Along?) along with director Karyn Kusama (TV?s ?Halt and Catch Fire?), still manage to keep the film from derailing thanks largely to some nifty plot twists that will make your head swivel.
But what really keeps you invested in ?Destroyer? is the fierce performance from Kidman who transformed from a beauty to a beast.
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Check Out This Trailer For
"DESTROYER"
Lana K. Wilson-Combs is a member of The Broadcast Film Critics? Association (BFCA), The Black Film Critics Circle (BFCC), The Alliance Of Women Film Journalists (AWFJ) and a Nominating Committee Voting Member for the NAACP Image Awards.
