Nicole Kidman could have taken her career in a number of different directions, but after dipping her toe in some studio misfires in the mid-2000's she continues to make daring choices that many other actors with her notoriety would shy away from. In the past two years she's starred in the polarizing “Stoker,” the art house hit “The Railway Man,” took on “Grace of Monaco” (a film that had a dramatically different original screenplay), made kids tremble as the villain in the family blockbuster “Paddington” and played Gertrude Bell in Werner Herzog's “Queen of the Desert” which debuted at the 2015 Berlin Film Festival.
But, wait. There's more.
Kidman has already finished shooting the big screen adaptation of “Lion,” has a significant role in Billy Ray's remake of “The Secret in Their Eyes” and stars opposite Jason Bateman in his highly anticipated drama “The Family Fang” (which has a screenplay from David Lindsay-Abaire who Kidman teamed up with on 2010's “Rabbit Hole”). Oh, and “Strangerland” hits theaters this month.
Directed by Kim Farrat, “Strangerland” finds Kidman playing Catherine, a woman desperately trying to keep her family together after a scandal forced them to move to a small town in the Australian Outback. Joseph Fiennes plays her husband Matthew, a man who is so angry over the actions of his teenage daughter (Maddison Brown) he can barely put on a brave face over their current predicament. That's the context of this exclusive clip from the movie which you can view in the embedded video at the top of this post. With both their daughter and younger son seemingly missing and a dust storm on the way, Catherine wants to begin searching now. Matthew? Well, you tell us whether you think he cares that much based on the preview.
Having seen the thriller at Sundance earlier this year I can tell you Kidman once again delivers another impressive performance. There are few actress these days who are willing to be as emotionally naked time and time again as the one-time Oscar winner. Will anyone remember when awards season comes around? We'll see.
“Strangerland” opens in limited release on July 10.
For more movie industry insight follow @HitFixGregory