Destroyer

"Star power can be a dangerous, delicate thing, as director Karyn Kusama (The Invitation) proves in this knotty cop thriller. On the one hand, subverting Nicole Kidman’s glamourous profile adds a bitter edge to every scene. On the other, it wipes everyone else out of the movie."

"There are good and bad things about Nicole Kidman's latest film. A glare-filled performance from the veteran actor is one of the good."

"Star power can be a dangerous, delicate thing, as director Karyn Kusama (The Invitation) proves in this knotty cop thriller. On the one hand, subverting Nicole Kidman’s glamourous profile adds a bitter edge to every scene. On the other, it wipes everyone else out of the movie."

"Kidman has always been a chameleon, but in this case, she doesn’t merely change her color; she disappears into an entirely new skin, rearranging her insides to fit the character’s tough hide."

"It's a mechanical noir dressed up as something more substantial and this is especially felt in an ending that drowns in unearned profundity."

"Kidman brings such compelling conviction to her role as a tormented detective that she single handedly imbues the film with urgency and authenticity."

"Lost in the shuffle of award season comes a police procedural so hard-boiled it could break your teeth."

"Rarely are women cast in these roles of screwed-up, hard-boiled antiheroes with a lifetime of regrets to make up for, and even if this is your basic LA noir, it's well-executed and satisfying in all the ways it should be."

"The grim relentlessness with which "Destroyer" seesaws between time frames - as if to make sure that no state of abjection, past or present, goes unexplored - wore me out long before the endlessly protracted finish."

"The movie takes its time to provide a satisfying rationale, occasionally suffering from a sluggish pace and sleepy atmosphere that lessens the underlying mystery..."

"Ultimately feels affected in its aspirations toward making some profound statement about self-abasement and sacrifice, making one feel like rejecting the whole thing despite some striking individual moments."