The Nightingale review: Jennifer Kent returns to the film world with her follow-up to the fantastic The Babadook, but does The Nightingale live up to its predecessor.
Image supplied by Vertigo Releasing
In 2014, The Babadook arrived in cinemas across the world and stamped director Jennifer Kent’s name firmly onto the directors to watch list. Now she debuts her follow-up feature period piece The Nightingale. Set around the time of England’s colonisation of Australia, the film tells the tragic story of young Irish mother Clare (Aisling Franciosi). Clare is an ex-convict whom, despite having served her sentence, is being kept on by English officer Hawkins (Sam Claflin), a man whom has become somewhat obsessed with her. After asking yet again for her freedom that she has already earned, and being turned down, Clare’s husband gets riled-up and starts a fight with Hawkins and his men. Hawkins isn’t the type to let an indiscretion go, and pays Clare, her husband, and baby daughter, a late night visit. The next day after Clare awakens to find herself childless and widowed, she steels herself and sets out to track down Hawkins and his men. Assisted by an Aborigine man called Billy (Baykali Ganambarr), she seeks out vengeance of the most extreme.
The Nightingale is a very different movie to that of The Babadook, and it may displease some that are hoping for a film that is essentially The Babadook 2. Those people shouldn’t be deterred though, as although this isn’t a straightforward horror, it definitely houses some of the most harrowing scenes committed to cinema. The attack from Hawkins and his men is brutal, monstrous, and completely shocking. Kent fills the scene with such intensity that it almost induces an anxiety attack. It’s just not a pleasant scene to watch on any level and easily challenges Gasper Noe’s Irreversible for the most traumatic attack in film.
Counteracting the brutality of this scene and the further actions of Hawkins and his men, is the rather lovely dynamic between Clare and Billy. In many ways it feels like a Driving Miss Daisy or Green Book style story as the pair, initially at odds, begin to bond. Here the walls start to break down as they bond about how the white Englishmen have taken everything from them in different ways. It’s a beautiful companionship to watch unfold and both Franciosi and Ganambarr play the dynamic wonderfully. In fact, the film is overflowing with strong performances; Sam Claflin absolutely obliterates his Finnick Odair Hunger Games persona with the brooding and power hungry Hawkins.
A juggernaut of emotion, beauty and brutality, The Nightingale is a haunting and, at times, harrowing tale. It marks a chilling cinematic return for Jennifer Kent, and this emotionally charged revenge story is one that once more singles her out as a voice to watch.
The Nightingale will be released in cinemas and on digital on 29th November 2019.
