The Power of the Dog
2021
**½
Director: Jane Campion
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Thomasin McKenzie, Genevieve Lemon, Keith Carradine, Frances Conroy
Brothers Phil and George Burbank run a ranch together in 1920s Montana. When George marries Rose, a widow with a teenage son, Phil is determined to make their lives miserable. Jane Campion's psychological drama is subtle and beautifully shot (in New Zealand), which is another way to say that its long and slow-paced story left me unsatisfied. The characters are difficult to grasp. Phil is a cruel and petty bully, until one moment he isn't. George is mostly off screen but so oblivious to what's happening that he has to be told that his wife has become an alcoholic. The performances similarly range from great (Dunst and Smit-McPhee) to typecast (Plemons) and mixed (Cumberbatch). Looking back, the story elements do add up, but the climactic twist doesn't feel earned and it makes the whole feel less than the sum of its parts. Based on Thomas Savage's 1967 novel.
