REVIEW #317 Killers of The Flower Moon (2023)

In the 1920’s members of the Osage Native American tribe fall victim to predators looking to have a piece of their oil money. However money lust soon turns to murder as Osage begin to die at a worrying rate. 

Killers of The Flower Moon is an incredibly captivating film that explores a time period and an injustice that I was completely unaware of. I was of course aware of the treatment Native Americans received over the years but this particular period was new territory for me. The emotional narrative is supported by an array of brilliant performances, with Lily Gladstone leading the pack with an absolutely chilling display. There is one particular scene where she receives the news of yet another death and the way she executed that reaction was heartbreaking to watch. I hope we see more of the actress because she deserves a big run in Hollywood! Of course we also had the acting titans scattered throughout the film, with Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert DeNiro headlining the movie. Both were of course, amazing, DeNiro in particular delivered such an interesting performance. It was one of his most horrific characters yet, that had such juxtaposition, with his happy and friendly front, where the entire audience could see how sickening William Hill truly was.

The attention to detail by Scorsese is remarkable, with the costume design, sets and musical score all setting the scene for the period and the subject matter. I really enjoyed his ending to the movie, where the final parts of the story are told through the style of an old time radio show! It felt unique and ended the movie perfectly, tying up the loose ends for the audience and even included a cheeky cameo from the director himself! I will say that the film isn’t without its flaws, the more I run over the plot the more nit picks I find. These are by no means large criticisms, realistically they hardly affect the overarching storyline but they just felt odd. For example towards the end when Ernest is reunited with Molly after being arrested, in the cornfield, why is Bryan the one driving her? He’s exactly who the FBI saved her from yet she’s allowed to be driven around alone by him. Again it’s not important but just seemed silly to me. Finally, we all knew what we was in for with the 3.5 hour run time, I love long films and it certainly wouldn’t cause complaint from me! However it certainly didn’t need to be that long, the story could have been tied up earlier, so perhaps for general audiences, the lengthy run time might drag a little.  All in all, I loved it and you could see so many inspirations from Scorseses earlier films scattered throughout Killers of the Flower Moon. I have no doubt that it’ll be included in the Oscar buzz come the end of the season!

Overall (9/10)

Thanks for reading!

Callan