Nicole Kidman Is Out for Revenge in “Destroyer” Trailer

For someone who once graced the covers of tabloids throughout the '90s, Nicole Kidman has done a lot to subvert the expectations of a glamorous movie star. She donned a prosthetic nose in her Oscar-winning turn in The Hours, she peed on Zac Efron in The Paperboy, and she's continued to work with interesting, inventive directors.

One of three films this fall, including the coming-of-age drama Boy Erased and the comic book epic Aquaman, Destroyer is by far her grittiest turn. Playing a haggard cop drawn back into the underworld she used to investigate, she's back under the heavy make-up needed to de-glamorize one of the most beautiful women in the world.

The film itself got mixed reviews at Toronto, but praise for Kidman was nearly universal. I'm getting a very Salton Sea vibe, which was another excellent L.A.-adjacent noir. If you're in the mood for a grim Christmas, the film opens December 25 in New York and L.A., and will expand in January.

Check out the new trailer below.

About Kip Mooney

Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.