In the tradition of great American crime dramas like Mean Streets and Goodfellas comes the new Australian film Animal Kingdom, opening on August 13th, which revolves around the Melbourne underworld. The film focuses on a Melbourne crime family who's bonds are tested when their orphaned nephew (James Frecheville) comes to live with them and they begin to feel pressure from a police officer played by Guy Pearce (L.A. Confidential). We recently had a chance to sit down with the film's director David Michôd as well as some of his cast including Jacki Weaver, Sullivan Stapleton and newcomer James Frecheville to talk about the exciting new movie, its powerful subject matter and it's American film influences. To watch our exclusive interview please click on the video clips below.

Welcome to the Melbourne underworld. Following the death of his mother, seventeen year-old Joshua 'J' Cody (newcomer James Frecheville) moves in with his hitherto-estranged family, under the watchful eye of his doting Grandmother, Janine 'Smurf' Cody (Jacki Weaver), and her three criminal sons ... the Cody boys. Eldest son and armed robber, Andrew 'Pope' Cody (Ben Mendelsohn) is in hiding from a gang of renegade detectives. Middle brother Craig (Sullivan Stapleton) is a successful but volatile drug dealer, whilst the youngest Cody ... Darren (Luke Ford), naïvely follows his elder brothers' lead. Just as 'Pope's' business partner and best friend, Barry Brown (Joel Edgerton), decides that he wants out of the game, recognizing that their days of old-school banditry are all but over, tensions between the family and the police explode. 'J' finds himself at the centre of a cold-blooded revenge plot that turns his family upside down and which throws him directly into the path of senior homicide detective, Nathan Leckie (Guy Pearce). Animal Kingdom is a powerful crime drama exploring the tense battle between a criminal family and the police, and the ordinary lives caught in the middle.