The Nightingale

Kent's deglamorized, relentlessly unpleasant depiction of suffering couldn't be further from the adolescent glee of Tarantino's films. Still, there's something vaguely two-faced about Kent's revenge narrative.

Jennifer Kent's The Nightingale is a film that bruises the soul.

It's impressive.

It's serious film-making, worthy of attention. Arguments, though, will ensue.

The most shocking thing about this shocking film? When it was over, I felt like I'd been released from a warm hug.

Like the world she depicts, Kent's storytelling shows no mercy.

"'The Nightingale' is a rich and vivid work from a director whose bold vision accounts for its brutality."

Jennifer Kent’s The Nightingale will not attract the same cult following or breadth of widespread fan devotion as The Babadook, but her latest marks significant progress in the filmmaker’s command of story and cinematic language.

To watch the film is to accept a merciless confrontation with colonial violence. It's also a step toward healing.

The Nightingale proves to be a powerful study of survival, rather than the trauma itself.