A Flawed, yet powerful and ambitious film.
Killers of the Flower Moon succeeds where so many other crime drama’s fail, it has a powerful story alongside the brutality of the genre. The film from start to finish is an enthralling, addictive, and at times emotional experience (which for a movie that is close to 4 hours long is quite the achievement). Both Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio give what in my opinion are career best performances, with the only other contender possibly being ‘The Wolf of Wall Street”. DiCaprio doesn’t just act a role in this film, he becomes the role. That is one of the strongest assets of this film, the performances aid the runtime, and vice versa, by the end of the film you no longer feel as though you are watching another Leonardo DiCaprio film, but instead wrapped up in the story of Molly and Ernest Burkhart.
Lily Gladstone, although I’ve never seen any other film with her featured in it, gives a great performance, and after watching the film I totally understand the buzz that is surrounding her. Gladstone’s portrayal of Molly Burkhart isn’t the helpless native that gets manipulated by the white man, nor the independent strong woman with no flaws what so ever. Instead it is this very nuanced and subtle performance of a woman that is watching her entire bloodline get murdered, while understanding that she is coming to the end of her days due to illness. He performance is so nuanced, that instead of the stereotypical native roles you usually see, instead you witness a strong and resilient woman, who allows herself to feel emotion, but doesn’t let it become her. She allows herself to be comforted, but can also protect herself. A woman who understands the advantageous role the white men have in their society, but instead of retreating finds serenity in her tribe.
The length of the film may be a deterrent for some viewers as sitting down to watch a close to 4 hour movie is no easy task, yet when you are engaged in the film the runtime does not feel as gargantuan as it appears. The movie is paced so incredibly well that almost every scene provides you with an interesting plot point, or a character moment/line that adds to the dynamic. The world building in the film is also masterfully done. The sets, the costumes, set pieces, all of this help to develop not only the white world, but the different rituals/passages of the Osage people and other tribes.
The issue that I had with this film, and we will get into spoilers for the ending of the film here, is the climax – or lack of. Obviously this film didn’t, and never would have called for an explosive action packed final act, it is a very character driven film, I’m referring more to the explanations of the outcomes of the characters. Instead of seeing it occur naturally, as the rest of the story had been presented to us, the film fades out with a shot of Ernest watching his wife, Molly walk away after it had been revealed that he was poisoning her with Insulin in a plot to get her money. We don’t continue to see the trial, nor the sentencing, instead the shot fades to black and cuts to a radio presenter, from the 50’s, saying something along the lines of “That concludes the story”, and then reads off what happened to each character as he talked to the audience.
This sudden cut felt so out of place in a film that had been building up for the last three and a half hours, that it almost left a sour taste in my mouth. Was it quirky and original? Yes. Did it fit the movie? No, not on any level. You could of instead had an epilogue in the same amount of time showing the consequences of the murders, instead of a random new presenter from a period after the events of the movie.
That though is my only issue with the film, and although it did leave a bad taste in my mouth, after sleeping on it, and giving the film some thought, I’m able to look past it. Killers of the Flower Moon is a long movie, but it has enough heart, a powerful story, and incredibly strong performances that instead make the run time feel good. I would recommend everyone give it a watch – maybe just start the film before 8pm.
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