‘Destroyer’: Nicole Kidman Is Rough and Wounded In Exclusive First Clip — Watch

The reviews for Karyn Kusama’s hardboiled crime drama “Destroyer” make it clear moviegoers have never seen this rough and wounded side of Nicole Kidman before on the big screen, and yet it’s never not shocking to see the Oscar winner’s transformation. In the exclusive first clip from the film below, Kidman is a broken down wreck desperate to keep her relationship with her daughter, which is the only thing left keeping her from spinning off her axis.

“Destroyer” stars Kidman as Erin Bell, a Los Angeles detective who gets forcibly thrown back into her past when an old case remerges. When Bell was younger, she was placed undercover with a gang in the California desert on an investigation that ended tragically. Years later, Bell discovers the same gang leader has returned, forcing her to reopen the case that changed her life. Sebastian Stan, Toby Kebbell, Bradley Whitford, and Tatiana Maslany.

Kidman has earned universal acclaim for her lead role and is currently a dark horse in this year’s Oscar race for Best Actress, where she’s going up against heavyweights such as Lady Gaga (“A Star Is Born”), Olivia Colman (“The Favourite”), and Melissa McCarthy (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”).

“Kidman’s versatility is often the center of any movie in which she stars, but she hasn’t burrowed this deep into her material since ‘Birth,'” raved IndieWire’s Eric Kohn in his review out of Telluride. “Kidman transforms herself into such a vivid creature of discontent that it’s a wonder she doesn’t swing for these extremes more often. … Her face tells the entire story.”

“Destroyer” will be Kidman’s third release of the fall/winter movie season. The actress is currently in theaters in Focus Features’ “Boy Erased” and plays Queen Atlanna in the DCEU tentpole “Aquaman,” in theaters December 21.

Annapurna Pictures will release “Destroyer” in select theaters December 25. Watch the exclusive first clip below.