How is a low budget independent thriller easier to identify with than a higher budget Hollywood thriller?

'Animal Kingdom' (2010) is an independent, low budget film from Australia, directed by David Michôd. However, 'Law Abiding Citizen' (2009) is a Hollywood film, directed by F. Gary Gray. Both of these films are of the crime thriller genre, yet they are extremely different in many ways, mainly due to their different budgets.

Firstly, 'Law Abiding Citizen' had the budget to add in effects such as explosions, and also had access to more equipment for actions such as car chases. This made the film much less easy to identify with, as these things are not every day events - it is unlikely that these things would happen in reality. The effects also dominate the film, taking the focus away from the storyline and characters. In contrast to this, as 'Animal Kingdom' has a much lower budget, there are very few effects, if not none at all. This makes the action in the film much more relative to every day life, meaning that the audience can picture these events happening close to home. Also, 'Animal Kingdom' has to work harder in order to build tension and atmosphere to make up for the lack of effects, allowing the audience to get to know the characters on a more personal level, and truly identifying with what is going on in the film.

In addition to this, 'Animal Kingdom' has only one known actor - Guy Pearce. The rest of the actors are unknown, which makes the characters seem much more real and easier for an audience to identify with. They also are trying to make a name for themselves, which means they will put in as much effort as possible in order to get recognised. In 'Law Abiding Citizen', as more of the actors are well known, the audience is much more aware that they are merely actors playing a part, which distances the audience from the events.

As less money has been spent on writing the script, the dialogue in 'Animal Kingdom' is more natural and realistic. It could be argued that this detracts from the tension and suspense created within dialogue, but I feel it gives the film an extra edge by bringing it into the reality that the audience knows. In 'Law Abiding Citizen', the script is clearly well thought out and it definitely adds to the tension within the film, but I feel again it distances the audience from the events as the audience could not see themselves having conversations like the ones within the film, whereas they could much easier with 'Animal Kingdom'.

In conclusion, 'Animal Kingdom' and other independent thriller films are much easier for an audience to identify with as the actions within the film seem much more naturalistic; they do not have the budget for over the top explosions and murder scenes. While 'Law Abiding Citizen' and Hollywood movies create tension well by using well thought out dialogue and special effects, independent films have to rely on the naturalistic aspect of the film and a clever plot in order to build suspense and tension, which makes it all the more frightening as an audience can picture the events in their own every day lives.