Movie Review: Killers of the Flower Moon
Killers of the Flower Moon is another sprawling epic from director Martin Scorsese. It is a gripping, three-and-a-half-hour-long crime western about an American atrocity that shows how America is rooted in blood and greed. It is another masterwork from the living legend and one of the year’s best films.
Based on David Grann’s non-fiction book Killers of the Flower: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, Killers of the Flower Moon takes place in 1920s Oklahoma and looks at the serial murder of members of the oil-rich Osage Nation. The film focuses on Earnest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio), who has returned home from the war and goes to live with his uncle William ‘King’ Hale (Robert De Niro), a wealthy cattle farmer living amongst the Osage. Burkhart gets a job as a chauffeur for the Osage and meets Molly (Lily Gladstone), a pure-blood Osage. The two form a connection and eventually get married. King, already a powerful man and “friend” of the Osage, sees this as an opportunity for him and his family and sets into motion a series of murders and killings so that the oil money Molly’s family has will funnel to his family. Earnest becomes King’s righthand man in planning these murders all while doing it behind Molly’s back and ensuring she doesn’t get in the way.
Much has been made about the film’s three-and-a-half-long runtime, but every second is used to perfection. Scorsese tells a years-long saga that shows the tragedy of the Osage Nation and the rise of greed amongst the white people who live around them. He takes the time to establish the relationships the characters have with each other. You fully understand King’s relationship with the Osage and with Earnest and you feel the love Molly and Earnest have for each other through the first half of the movie, which only makes it more heart-wrenching when you see the love fade away as Earnest becomes more involved with his uncle.
And throughout the film, Scorsese puts in scenes of the Osage people getting murdered. They are quick, brutal scenes that see Osage people getting gunned down which left me feeling cold with each of them getting harder and harder to watch. Scorsese doesn’t spend a lot of time on these scenes because, much like the men who committed the murders, it was just a job they did, and then they moved on, which only makes them more chilling and more devastating.
The themes of Killers of the Flower Moon are themes Scorsese has tackled many times throughout his over fifty years of filmmaking. He has looked at greed and obsession with money in Casino and Wolf of Wall Street. He has looked at American history and how the country’s foundation is built on violence and bloodshed in Gangs of New York (a movie that would make a great double feature with this one). He has made movies about men who struggle between being good and evil only to succumb to the evils of greed and blind loyalty like in Goodfellas, The Departed, and The Irishman. Scorsese, who co-wrote the screenplay with Eric Roth, brilliantly combines all these themes together to bring an American horror story to light by showing how white interlopers caused an appalling murder spree against the Osage people.
Killers of the Flower Moon boasts a terrific ensemble led by awards-worthy performances by DiCaprio, De Niro, and Gladstone. DiCaprio gives one of the best performances of his career as the simple and soft Earnest. Earnest will go whichever way you tell him. He is a spineless, pathetic man who listens and follows his uncle’s orders and refuses to stand up for himself or his wife and his family. Like Henry Hill in Goodfellas or Travis Bickel in Taxi Driver, Earnest is not a good man, but the performance by DiCaprio is captivating. You can’t take your eyes off him. I never once empathized or sympathized with him and the things that happened to him, but DiCaprio gives depth to this awful human. De Niro is terrifying as the wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing King. He epitomizes evil. He is a man who already has money and success and yet, it isn’t enough for him. Watching him manipulate the Osage and Earnest will make your skin crawl but De Niro is arresting in his best performance of the 21st century.
The heart and soul of Killers of the Flower Moon is Lily Gladstone. Gladstone is astonishing as Molly, the Osage woman trapped in the middle of this awful horror that is happening to her and her people. With every Osage murder, you feel a piece of Molly’s heart being taken away and when the murders start to happen to her family, your heart is crushed for her. Gladstone encapsulates Molly’s pride, honor, intelligence, and love, which only makes it more heartbreaking when Molly becomes almost incapacitated as the murders pile on. Gladstone leaves an impression that won’t fade away quickly.
Don’t let the long runtime make you hesitant about seeing Killers of the Flower Moon. Scorsese has crafted an epic that takes its time and delves into the details of this American tragedy. And don’t wait for it to come on Apple TV+ either. See it on a big screen and immerse yourself in the beautiful canvas Scorsese has laid before us. Killers of the Flower Moon is a big, emotional, powerful story of greed, evil, tragedy, and America.
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