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Killers of the Flower Moon Review: Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone carry stomach-turning Martin Scorsese film about Osage community on their shoulders
Killers of the Flower Moon dives into the gut-wrenching story of Osage murders over their oil money. Directed by Martin Scorsese, it sixth collaboration with Leonardo DiCaprio. Read Pinkvilla review!
Name: Killers of the Flower Moon
Director: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Leonardo Dicaprio,Robert de Niro,Jesse Plemons
Writer: Martin Scorsese
Rating: 3
Plot
Based on the non-fiction book by David Grann, Killers of the Flower Moon explores the Osage murders that took place in the 1920s. The movie describes how the Osage community became the wealthiest people per capita in the country. Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) enters the scene as he returns from WWI to his uncle William Hale (Robert De Niro), who already has a place in his house for Ernest's elder brother. This kicks off the plan to steal from the Osage people by marrying into the family. The heartbreaking story includes events involving multiple murders and how the FBI got involved in the case.
What works?
Martin Scorsese has an eye for details, and it is quite evident throughout the film when he is focusing on door knobs, cars driving around the city, and even the murders. The three-and-a-half-hour-long movie gives you more than enough time to articulate the whole story. It is heartbreaking, no doubt, but it evokes anger and sympathy for the community. It was interesting to see how the white community united just so they could get the money flowing into their family from the Osage people.
Leonardo DiCaprio exists throughout the movie as a pawn for Robert De Niro's master plan. The one character who stole the show is Mollie, played by Lily Gladstone. She carries the movie with her beauty and the pain she showcases after her whole family dies in tragic ways. Her voice adds more to the beauty of the character. Scenes like Ernest poisoning his wife Mollie in the name of insulin will evoke anger because of how greedy a human can get.
There are gory scenes and multiple subplots that will keep you engaged enough to understand what went wrong. The ending of the movie is something new, more like a theater play. Martin knew what he was doing with multiple social commentaries and how humans are in general.
What doesn't work?
As much as I respect Martin and his filmmaking, Killers of the Flower Moon felt like a stretch at times. The length of the movie could have been cut by an hour. You can actually witness how Marty did not cut scenes because of his obsession with his work or because he just wanted us to go through every single page of the book. The back and forth of the characters really fails to keep the attention span, and with multiple plot points, a lot gets lost in between. There were multiple occasions when I felt that the scenes were repeating and going nowhere. I looked at my phone for a minute and did not really miss out on a lot because the scene did not even change.
Star Performance
Leonardo DiCaprio aced his role as the guy who gets himself into trouble after listening to someone else. Not something we haven't seen before. Some of his scenes reminded me of Revolutionary Road, and I couldn't stop seeing the similarity. On the other hand, I couldn't stop praising Robert De Niro and how he was made for this role. Talking about Lily Gladstone, she overpowered the other characters with her presence. The chilling screams and how she managed to make us feel her emotions in real life. She was the best part of this movie.
Killers of the Flower Moon: Final Verdict
The movie manages to showcase true events in a proper manner. It is a very good adaptation but needs to be more refined, so you can watch it if you want to see some good acting. It is clearly a one-time watch, and honestly, I wouldn't be able to sit for three hours to watch it again. The movie is available to watch in theaters near you.
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