Jennifer Kent’s The Nightingale is a savagely brilliant masterpiece
It’s rare that a press screening comes with a warning. But in the wake of reported walkouts, invites to see Jennifer Kent’s The Nightingale came with a warning. In red font, critics were alerted that the film would contain “sexual violence towards women, violence towards children, and violence motivated by racism.” Since the film’s Venice premiere last fall, some have criticized Kent for the brutality found in her much-anticipated follow-up to her breakthrough debut The Babadook. However, considering her sophomore effort is a revenge-thriller that explores the sins of colonialism, the brutality is essential to its message. To capture the merciless of this domineering mindset, Kent won’t look away from its violence and depravity. And she won’t let us look away either.
Written and directed by Kent, The Nightingale centers on Clare (Aisling Franciosi), a young wife and mother who works tirelessly all day and into the night so that she can then curl up cozy with her loving husband and darling infant daughter. But Clare’s meager sliver of family bliss is threatened by the sneering Lieutenant Hawkins (Sam Claflin). See, Clare and her husband Aidan (Michael Sheasby) are Irish ex-cons, shipped to the English colony in 1825 Australia to work off their sentences as indentured servants. Though she’s served her time, Hawkins won’t let her go. The brash cad calls her his “nightingale,” regards her as a pet or “property,” and relishes having her perform for…
