20s Movie Review - The Power of the Dog

Director: Jane Campion
Genre: Drama/ Western
Runtime: 128 minutes
Year: 2021
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemmons, Kodi Smith-McPhee, Keith Carradine, Frances Conroy

Description: Charismatic rancher Phil Burbank (Benedict Cumberbatch) inspires fear and awe in those around him. When his brother (Jesse Plemmons) brings home a new wife (Kirsten Dunst) and her son (Kodi Smith-McPhee), Phil torments them until he finds himself exposed to the possibility of love.

Review: He calls his brother fatso. He parades around his ranch like he’s royalty. When the mild-mannered teenager Peter serves him in a restaurant, he humiliates the boy with. Phil Burbank is the alpha male, not a very likeable man. The lessons his mentor Bronco henry taught him, he takes very seriously. This is how you are a man. And then his dork brother George comes home with his new wife, the kindhearted Rose and her son, that same teenager Peter.  
Director Jane Campion filmed in her home land New Zealand, but for us it’s the American state Montana in the 1920s. Throw in a strong cast, an uneasy story and you have “The Power of the Dog”.  
This is the type of film that I call a slow-burn. It’s an incredibly slow film, with not a lot happening. But the things that do happen, make an impact and will haunt you for a while. And it’s the type of movie that you will think is good, but you won’t rewatch it because it makes you uneasy.
The aspects that make “The Power of the Dog” a good movie are for instance the camera work and the way they portrayed Montana. The visuals are stunning. The other aspect is the cast. Jesse Plemmons and Kodi Smith-McPhee are really solid, but it’s both Kirsten Dunst and especially Benedict Cumberbatch that steal the show. Never have I disliked a Cumberbatch character this much, which means he did an amazing job. He is a brute. Most of the Oscar buzz for now hangs around Dunst, who, as the wife of a somewhat ‘weaker man’, is partly weighed down by the dominance of her envious brother-in-law. She splashes off the screen in her tormented powerlessness.
“The Power of the Dog” is definitely a winner for Netflix, but I don’t think it will win the Academy for Best Picture. And I think there a better candidates too, but I would understand if it did win.

Rating: 4/ 5