Animal Kingdom: Everything You Need To Know About The Crime Thriller Blowing Up On Netflix

A crime drama series that's one part "Peaky Blinders" and one part "Breaking Bad," "Animal Kingdom" follows a ruthless California crime family headed by Janine "Smurf" Cody (Ellen Barkin), who rules with an iron fist. Her boys look up to her Ma Barker style, needing her guidance and her careful planning to navigate the world they operate in. Their inability to let one another exist peacefully without the influence of the family unit leads to tragedy and disaster.

"Animal Kingdom" thrived on TNT for six seasons, running for 75 episodes between 2016 and 2022 and becoming one of the cable network's most successful dramas in the process. Three years after it took its last bow in the broadcast world, the show started blowing up on Netflix, with subscribers discovering how binge-worthy it can be. If you're tempted to jump on the "Animal Kingdom" bandwagon yourself, here's everything you need to know about it before you dive in.

"Animal Kingdom" has its roots in a 2010 Australian motion picture with the same name and some of the same characters, though its central plot has a number of changes. As in the series, the action in the film begins when teenager Joshua "J" Cody (James Frecheville) moves in with his grandmother, mob doyenne Janine "Smurf" Cody (Jacki Weaver), following the loss of his mother. J falls into a den of crime as he's introduced to his uncles — the in-hiding Andrew "Pope" Cody (Ben Mendelsohn), drug dealer Craig Cody (Sullivan Stapleton), and youngest brother Darren Cody (Luke Ford). Barry "Baz" Brown (Joel Edgerton) is the family's enforcer and often leads the team when they perform the robberies that have brought them to the police's attention.

The vulnerable and naïve J begins to get caught up in the family's criminal, do-anything-to-get-ahead ethos. While Pope hates and is jealous of J, Darren and Craig take a shine to him. Baz and Pope dream of going straight, but Baz's shooting by a police officer puts that dream to an end. The Codys seek their bloody revenge on the police and J is soon caught between dreams of a normal life with his girlfriend, Nicky (Laura Wheelwright), and supporting his new family. He ultimately must pick between testifying against the Codys or freeing them from prison. While the end result may seem like a victory for the Cody clan, it ends up tearing the family apart and costs J his soul.

The film version of "Animal Kingdom" (which was reportedly inspired by the very real Melbourne family the Pettingills) was highly decorated in Australia: It got eighteen nominations at the Australian Film Institute Awards, winning ten of those accolades. Both the nomination total and the number of wins were AFI records at the time. It was also named one of the top independent movies of 2010 by the National Board of Review Awards. Jacki Weaver's performance received international attention, with the Aussie veteran being nominated for best supporting actress awards at both the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards.

The TV version of "Animal Kingdom" shares a few building blocks with its Aussie cousin. The show kicks off with J (Finn Cole) moving in with his grandmother Smurf (Ellen Barkin) in the wake of the death of his mother via a heroin overdose. The 17-year-old quickly discovers that adapting to life in Oceanside, California won't be straightforward, because his family rely on ill-gotten gains: Smurf and J's uncles — steady Deran (Jake Weary), off-kilter Pope (Shawn Hatosy), and reckless Craig (Ben Robson) — run a criminal enterprise that encompasses everything from robbery to fencing. In this version of the tale, Baz Brown (Scott Speedman) is Janine's adopted son as well as her enforcer. 

Whenever a member of the family tries to make a law-abiding life for themselves, selfish but extremely competent mom Janine reels them back into the family's mess. If that means killing off a significant other or two, so be it. But things are about to change. Baz is already questioning Janine's leadership skills; Pope is coping poorly with rejoining the family after a long stint in prison; Deran has fallen in love with a man named Adrian (Spencer Treat Clark), and he hopes to go legit via owning a bar and surfing competitively. J throws a monkey wrench into everything, forcing the Codys to confront long-buried frustrations and conflicts between skydiving trips and shooting the curl on California's sunniest beaches.

Ellen Barkin heads the cast of "Animal Kingdom" as mob mother Janine "Smurf" Cody. Barkin got her big break in the 1982 film "Diner" and went on to feature in dozens of movies over the next few decades, most notably the 1991 comedy "Switch," for which she received a best actress Golden Globe nomination. Younger versions of Janine are shown in flashbacks: She's played by Rimea Kasprzak ("Man with a Plan") as a child and by Leila George ("Mortal Engines") as an older teen and young adult.

Baz Brown is played by Scott Speedman, who appeared in the "Underworld" movies in the 2000s but is best known for playing Dr. Nick Marsh in "Grey's Anatomy" and Matthew Engler in "You" these days. Andrew "Pope" Cody is played by Shawn Hatosy, who previously starred in "Southland" as Detective Sammy Bryant; Craig Cody is played by Ben Robson, known for his turn in "Vikings" as Lagertha's ally Kalf; and Deran Cody is played by Jake Weary, who's also Christos in Season 2 of "The Walking Dead: Dead City."

J Cody is played by Finn Cole, who will already be known to fans of crime drama shows, having also played Michael Gray in "Peaky Blinders." He discussed the similarities and differences between the two characters during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in February 2025, saying: "I enjoyed both a lot, but J was far more enigmatic and desensitized than Michael. He was far more broken. So, between the two, there was a little bit more to play with Michael, but J also had things about him that made him quite an unusual character to deal with."

J's girlfriend Nicky is played by Molly Gordon, who now recurs as Claire on the hit FX series "The Bear." Other cast members include Carolina Guerra ("Narco Soldiers"), Daniella Alonso ("Criminal Minds"), and Spencer Treat Clark ("Manhunt").

TNT once had a robust slate of original programs, and "Animal Kingdom" was a major part of that line-up during its run. So what happened? Well, in truth the show was just one of many victims of a big shift: TNT slowly shifted away from original programming during the 2020s, preferring to stick with reruns of classic television dramas and comedies, TV cuts of theatrical films, and coverage of sporting events. Thankfully, "Animal Kingdom" was not cancelled mid-season — it was granted a sixth and final season. Losing a great TV show is always worse when things come to an abrupt end, but Season 6 gave "Animal Kingdom" enough time to provide a satisfying conclusion.

"Claws" also concluded around this time, and "Snowpiercer" — TNT's last original production standing – moved to AMC to conclude its run after being cancelled in 2023. The network hasn't hosted any original programming since then, though with the NBA leaving TNT for prime-time coverage on NBC starting with the 2025-2026 season, it's possible TNT might backtrack its programming strategy, though don't expect that to happen anytime soon: The plan for now is to fill the schedule with reality and game shows, as well as sporting events and sports-themed shows. "When you look at the sports audience, there's truly no audience like it on the planet," TNT's president Jason Sarlanis told Deadline.

The "Netflix" charts move in mysterious ways, so it's hard to say exactly why "Animal Kingdom" suddenly became so popular on the streamer in summer 2025. None of the show's actors have hit any particular career highs that might cause fans to check out the show, and while the series' themes are fascinating, there's nothing in it that makes it suddenly relevant at this particular time in pop culture history. Its sudden popularity probably comes down to one thing — people who subscribe to Netflix love dramas.

Over the years, Netflix has become a place for hard-hitting and critically acclaimed dramas like "Narcos," "Ozark," "The Queen's Gambit," "Black Doves," "Dead to Me," "You," and "Unbelievable," to name a few. Netflix is also currently the only place in the U.S. to stream "Peaky Blinders," which has become a kind of spiritual cousin to "Animal Kingdom." It's entirely plausible that people who have just finished streaming "Peaky Blinders" would turn to "Animal Kingdom" in order to fill that crime family drama-shaped hole in their lives.

Of course, the "Animal Kingdom" Netflix boom could have been caused by Netflix itself: Plenty of fans reported on the "Animal Kingdom" subreddit that they randomly found the series, so perhaps the streamer pushed out recommendations for the show after some of their more popular programs. The newness factor might also be at work here, with "Animal Kingdom" breaking into the top 10 not long after being added to the Netflix library.

If you're a parent to teens and have been considering watching "Animal Kingdom" with them, just be warned: The show more than earns its TV-MA rating and is perhaps best binged only by grown-ups. There's a lot of violence, including bloody on-screen murder and other forms of abuse, including child abuse. There's also explicit language, though the series does steer away from frequent F-bombs, at least. The series is sprinkled with love scenes between the characters, some of which feature simulated sex and some of which feature partial nudity.

Perhaps the biggest reason that "Animal Kingdom" is rated TV-MA is that people abuse substances on the regular — it's rated "severe" for alcohol, drugs and smoking on IMDb's parents guide. Characters use marijuana and cocaine onscreen, and prescription drug abuse provides a subplot during a season. There are also many moments where characters light up cigarettes. It's definitely not the kind of show you share with anyone under 17. But if you're an adult yearning for a complex and ugly portrait of one woman's attempt at keeping her family on a very short leash, then you'll likely enjoy it.

At the time of this writing in 2025, the "Animal Kingdom" boom on Netflix is still in full swing. This will likely lead to a fresh wave of write-ups that could potentially alter the critical scores across review-aggregation websites, especially as some of the later seasons of "Animal Kingdom" weren't widely reviewed. Season 1 is certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a score of 76% from 34 reviews. Season 2 has a higher score of 80%, but had fewer critics weighing in with only five reviews. Season 3 got four reviews, and Season 4 just has one. However, even though these numbers are low, the vast majority of critics who did watch "Animal Kingdom" loved it.

Much of the praise was directed at Ellen Barkin's performance as the formidable Cody matriarch. "Smurf is a mama lion fiercely protecting her cubs, and Barkin gives her a trashy allure that belies some serious ferociousness underneath," said The Wrap's Tim Grierson, while Time magazine's Daniel D'Addario wrote: "Barkin is delivering an incredible performance. Weaver's Smurf concealed toughness and violence behind maternal care; Barkin's take on the role merges predatory appetites with a threatening sexuality."

Even negative reviews of the show praise Barkin's work in making Smurf a fully-fledged human being instead of a caricature. A number of critics compared the show's family to the equally violent and equally dysfunctional Teller-Morrow clan of "Sons of Anarchy" fame, and many couldn't resist noting the frequent shirtlessness of the Cody brothers. "The four hunky brothers and one equally buff nephew would starve to death if every restaurant had a 'no shirt, no service' rule," joked David Wiegand of SFGate.

Critics raved about "Animal Kingdom," and fan reviews were even more enthusiastic. Three of the six seasons have audience ratings above 90% on Rotten Tomatoes (Season 2 has a near-perfect score of 97% from over a hundred reviews), and two of them have scores above 80%. The lowest score by some distance is for Season 5, which has a still-respectable 71%. There's a reason for this – Ellen Barkin left "Animal Kingdom" at the end of Season 4, and Smurf's departure didn't go down well with fans.

In an apparent attempt to soften the blow, the show decided to explore Smurf's past, showing viewers what she was like as a child and a young adult. This turned out to be the worst part of Season 5 for many. "Switching back and forth to when Smurf was young just takes away from the present day. Doesn't hold my attention at all, too bad they didn't quit while they were ahead," said one Rotten Tomatoes user, while another added, "The second time around I hit fast forward over every single flashback to young Smurf and it was sooooo much better." User scores are also more positive than critic reviews on Metacritic, and "Animal Kingdom" has a solid IMDb rating of 8.2

Will the show's newfound popularity on Netflix result in a seventh season? If "Animal Kingdom" continues to post impressive numbers on the streaming service, there's a chance we might see another outing for the remaining members of the Cody clan. What's interesting is that TNT was actually open to making more "Animal Kingdom" at one stage. Speaking to Deadline ahead of the finale, then-network general manager Brett Weitz revealed that he was waiting to hear from executive producer John Wells. He said: "When he's ready and he feels like there's a natural evolution to that show or spinoff, not only is my door open, but there's probably a slot on the air for him to do that. He could do no wrong in my books."

That was music to the ears of "Animal Kingdom" fans, but it didn't pan out that way. Weitz is no longer at TNT (he went on to work at X as Global Head of Content, Talent and Brand Sales, a role he exited in 2025), and Wells is now deeply entrenched in writing, producing, and directing the medical drama series "The Pitt." Even if he was interested in continuing "Animal Kingdom" in some fashion, he simply wouldn't have the time right now. We also can't ignore the fact that the series closes the book on the story of the Cody family in a pretty definitive fashion – "Animal Kingdom" fans are still processing their feelings about the finale many years after it aired. However, there are a few ways they could continue the tale with a spin-off.

Perhaps the most obvious idea for a spin-off/continuation series would be to follow J in his new life. Spoiler alert: J's plan to escape and start over with his family's dirty money pays off. It turns out that he blamed the Codys for the death of his mother all along and always intended to get revenge on them. By the time the credits roll, the Cody clan has been decimated and J sits alone by a pool somewhere in the Virgin Islands. Could we one day see J begin building his own criminal empire in paradise? We'll have to wait and see — in the meantime, check out our list of shows like "Animal Kingdom" that are worth watching.