Killers of the Flower Moon Review

Director: Martin Scorsese

Run Time: 3 hours 26 mins

With Killers of the Flower Moon, Lily Gladstone, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and Scorsese deliver a well-crafted epic that contextualizes white, American terror. The Osage Nation is simultaneously present and reduced in the film, but similar to Christopher Nolan’s historical Oppenheimer, Scorsese makes a folly of his protagonist as much as possible before the film ends. There’s no question who the victim and the villain are by the end of the film, though the last glimpse of the villain is problematic in its functionality.

In 1919 Oklahoma, Ernest Burkhart, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, upon returning from WWI as a cook, is taken in by his uncle William “King” Hale (Robert De Niro ), in order to assist in settling back into regular life. Ernest takes up the job of a driver and even though advised otherwise by his uncle, falls into life in the West for white men: drinking, gambling, and bubbling with envy for Osage Nation royalty. 

The Osage Nation discovered oil in the 1900s, so every indigenous family resettled there, a few years before Trail of Tears but still through recession, is entitled to monthly checks. Many Osage Nation keep their newfound wealth within their blood family, but because of proximity and other variables, many Osage marry white settlers that begrudgingly live in the area performing manual labor, though some are likely staking out for just this occasion. Ernest meets Mollie (Lily Gladstone) one day and begins slowly courting her, even learning her language, which Hale is a fan of as Mollie’s family is one of the few he doesn’t have full control over. Hale is a big deal in the town and is known for assisting the Osage Nation as well. 

The murders of indigenous started long before Ernest met Mollie, and Hale’s indiscriminate team slowly rampaged, even including people closest to Mollie. Hale eventually recruits Ernest to give his wife alternative medicine disguised as insulin treatment to kill her in a less obvious way. Ernest’s conscience constantly sways back and forth throughout the entire film, even up until the conclusion, but he never fully falls on the side of good. He kills and recruits other murderers, but will do anything to save his own life.

Killers of the Flower Moon has an outstanding cast of newcomers and old faces. Touting multiple Oscar winners and nominees, everyone appearing on screen does an amazing job playing their piece instead of merely vying for their screen time. Some characters come across so smoothly that you may not even recognize them, which is likely owed to the production team, set designers, make-up and costuming. Cara Jade Myers as Anna Brown, Jesse Plemmons as Tom White, and Tatanka Means as John Wren are some of the immediate favorites. 

Their roles are very much supportive of others, with Myers contrasting Gladstone’s muted personality, Jesse’s sincerity contrasting DiCaprio and De Niro’s feigned aloofness, and Wren character contrasting everyone through his position of an indigenous man in the white space of the future FBI. The script is sharp and surprisingly funny. Editing and cinematography are stellar. Though the soundtrack is a little heavy and modern for my tastes, I do think it underscores the Americana of the film. The parts of the film work so well together that audiences won’t really feel the time frame, especially because there’s ironically so many opportunities for Ernest to come clean and he consistently misses them.

Lily Gladstone is the defiant standout of the film. She unfortunately doesn’t have nearly the screen time or dialogue as other characters. She even spends the majority of the film sick, in bed, unconscious, or delirious, but what she does with her time is remarkable and that’s the goal of an actor/actress. She found a way to play sincere and steadfast with minimal dialogue and mostly eyes and body language. The few lines she does have do all of their work with intonation, a quick smirk, a loud yet short laugh, or no response at all, just a look. Though she hasn’t spoken to it because of the current writers’ strike, I’m very curious how she approached the role, knowing the historical outcome and how that would play out between two Hollywood heavyweights such as DiCaprio and De Niro. Lily does not falter, slow down, or stumble and it’s an amazing performance to withhold.

DiCaprio and De Niro are difficult to discuss in the film because though they do sink into their characters, audiences will likely remain aware of their presence the entire time. I loved this role for DiCaprio more so than De Niro, mainly because I haven’t seen DiCaprio so small in recent films. His hunched posture, shaky voice, minimal confidence, and lack of overall sense were impressive. He hasn’t played such an overtly weak character, in mind and conscience in some time. This played really well off De Niro’s larger-than-life persona. I appreciate the sneaky turn of the roll. De Niro has always played a good liar and string-puller, yet working alongside someone like DiCaprio who audiences are not used to being the naive one that’s taken advantage of, was refreshing.

Much of the future conversation about Killers of the Flower Moon, especially if the AMPTP chooses to end the current actor’s strike, will be around representation, what the film means by it and what it accomplishes, along with what it erases versus what it begins. The time Scorsese put into making this film alongside the Osage Nation is necessary and worthy of applause, but it’s the bare minimum for a white male, specifically an American, white male, adapting a story that centers around the brutality faced by indigenous populations. 

Many critics are high-fiving Scorsese for acquiring interpreters, permission, experts and indigenous actors. Why would a director not though? Dances with Wolves and The Last of the Mohicans are not in the upper echelon anymore. America made those films which mutilated the representation of generations and fueled the stereotypical images of others. And when America came out on the other side, Kevin Costner and Daniel Day-Lewis for example, continued their trajectory, but what of the careers of the people they acted opposite of and their people? 

So while Killers of the Flower Moon feels authentic and treads carefully to not fully exploit like its predecessors in the genre, there is a long trajectory of this type of material on the film, and even one great and honest attempt at course correction isn’t enough to erase that history. We need more movies about indigenous groups telling their stories. That’s what the goal should be for the cast and everyone working on the film.

Killers of the Flower Moon gets a 5 out of 5 rating.

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