Nicole Kidman astonishes with gritty performance in brutal cop drama Destroyer

By Patrick Sullivan, Film & TV Editor

The Oscar winner undergoes an aesthetic transformation to become Detective Bell in an unflinching characterisation that dominates Karyn Kusama’s film.

Detective Erin Bell (Kidman) is a battered, bruised alcoholic regularly seen slumped in her car. She still suffers from the guilt of a failed undercover sting 17 years ago involving armed robberies, and her relationships with her teenage daughter and ex-husband are non-existent as a result. The case that has haunted her all these years resurfaces and she goes rogue in order to exact revenge as she sees fit.

Kidman sports the ever unglamourous nose latex for the second time - the first, in The Hours (2002), was for her Oscar-winning role - alongside skin scars, and liver spots to create a truly dilapidated anti-heroine. ‘Digital botox’ is also used for the flashback scenes to renew the character’s youth. The look is just one aspect of the performance: Kidman gnarls and curses, putting on a gruff voice for her limited conversations with others and, more importantly, her deep, dark, inner monologues.

Director Karyn Kusama and screenwriters Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi clearly intend to plant Destroyer in the dirt and watch the audience squirm. In one scene, to get a lead out of a terminally ill former criminal involved in the case called Toby (James Jordan), Bell reluctantly tosses him off as he sits coughing and spluttering in his wheelchair. The camera just keeps rolling on and on, switching focus between Toby’s drooling, crusty mouth and Bell’s gritted, yellow teeth - much to our discomfort.

In another scene, Detective Bell, understandably out of shape, throws up all over the floor when on the receiving end of a beating. By the end of the film, her ribs are a watercolour canvas of purples, red, and blues. The film is well aware of its grim nature, and uses it to comic effect at times, such as when Bell has to clarify to members of the public, ‘I’m a cop,’ after a vicious one-on-one brawl in a fast food joint. The romance between Bell and Chris (Sebastian Stan), her undercover police partner in the flashbacks, is another small counterpoint used to detract from its main, dominating arc of brutal realism.

The structure of the main plot is a no-frills investigation: one lead exposes another and henceforth. The ultimate end goal is to reach Silas (Toby Kebbell), armed robber, murderer, and power-crazed leader of the gang Detective Bell infiltrated in her original mission. The first point of call is Toby, the only gang member arrested 17 years ago, who leads her to the cowardly right-hand man, Arturo (Zach Villa), who leads her to the money launderer, DiFranco (Bradley Whitford), who leads her to Silas’ former muse Petra (Tatiana Maslany), and so forth. Destroyer is proof enough that it is the execution of a crime story that causes an effective thrill and not the complexity.

The ending - or, at least, what I thought was - is a perfect example of circular cinema. I was satisfied and ready to leave, but it just kept going against my wishes, much like the aforementioned handjob scene. It was unnecessary sentimality from the filmmakers centred around the largely irrelevant subplot of Bell’s daughter, Shelby (Jade Pettyjohn). A good action film should end up abruptly after a bang - which here exists - only slowing down to tie up any loose ends. Destroyer betrays its true climax by draining every last drop of momentum with 20 minutes of saccharine sap.

The film overall is still a hit, but the weak finish undermines its qualities. Kidman, however, could generate some momentum heading into awards season with a committed performance as a self-neglecting detective stuck in a cycle of guilt and regret.

Featured Image Credit: London Film Festival / Destroyer

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