Nicole Kidman plays a hard-edged detective with a dark past in the official trailer for director Karyn Kusama’s Destroyer. The film marks the latest collaboration for Kusama and writing duo Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi, after their collaborations on the action-adventure Æon Flux and the horror-mystery The Invitation. Kusama is also known for helming the cult horror-comedy Jennifer’s Body and has worked on such high-profile cable TV series as Billions and Halt and Catch Fire in more recent years.
Kidman stars is Destroyer as Erin Bell, a seasoned LAPD detective who went undercover as a young cop with a gang in the California desert and has been haunted by what happened, ever since. However, when the leader of the gang re-emerges in the present, Erin is given the chance to finally make peace with her demons and take down the remaining members of the gang, one by one. Joining Kidman in the cast are such names as Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black), Scoot McNairy (Godless), Toby Kebbell (Kong: Skull Island) and the MCU’s own Bucky Barnes, Sebastian Stan.
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Destroyer has already screened at the major festivals in Telluride and Toronto and will make a stop at the AFI Fest next month, ahead of its release in U.S. theaters this December. Annapurna Pictures has now released an official trailer for the film online, in an effort to further generate buzz for the pulpy crime-thriller. Take a look in the space below.
So far, Destroyer and especially Kidman’s performance have been largely well-received by critics over the course of its festival circuit tour. Early reviews further seem to agree that the movie has a pretty standard LA noir crime narrative, but elevates it through compelling acting and sharp direction. Indeed, between its plot summary and trailer footage, Destroyer looks and feels a bit like a season of True Detective that’s headlined by Kidman and has been effectively condensed into a two-hour film.
As for Annapurna – the studio has struggled at the box office since it began distributing films last year and recently dropped director Jay Roach’s Roger Ailes project, just as it was about to begin production. All the same, the hope now is that Annapurna will finish its year on a stronger note financially, between the release of such buzzed-about movies as Destroyer, Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk adaptation and Adam McKay’s Dick Cheney biopic Vice over the remaining months of 2018. The latter two films have Best Picture Oscar buzz working in their favor, but Destroyer may yet manage to draw a crowd that’s in the mood for some good ol’ hard-boiled crime thrills.
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Key Release Dates
Destroyer
Release Date:2018-12-25
