Jmunney's Blog

Mmm, this one’s a killa (CREDIT: Apple/Paramount Pictures)

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone, Robert De Niro, Jesse Plemons, Tantoo Cardinal, John Lithgow, Brendan Fraser, Cara Jade Myers, JaNae Collins, Jillian Dion, Jason Isbell, William Belleau, Louis Cancelmi, Scott Shepherd

Director: Martin Scorsese

Running Time: 206 Minutes

Rating: R for Disturbingly Widespread and Remorseless Murder

Release Date: October 20, 2023 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: Here’s an important piece of information that is emphasized right from the get-go in Killers of the Flower Moon: at a certain point in the early 20th century, the Osage were the richest people per capita in the entire world. But where oil flows, bloodshed soon follows. And so it was during the Osage murders that plagued Oklahoma in the 1920s, as detailed in David Grann’s 2017 book Killers of the Flower Moon and now the Martin Scorsese-directed adaptation of the same name. All of the action revolves around William King Hale (Robert De Niro), a white man who’s managed to keep all of Osage County in his iron grip. In the course of the long wealth accumulation game that he’s ruthlessly playing, he directs his nephew Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) to ingratiate himself with the native people. This takes the form of Ernest marrying and starting a family with a local woman named Mollie (Lily Gladstone). This could all be perfectly wholesome, if only Ernest weren’t involved with his uncle’s schemes to kill pretty much every member of Mollie’s family.

What Made an Impression?: Keeping Your Heart Afloat?: I had one major persistent question throughout Killers of the Flower Moon: could Ernest and Mollie actually be in love with each other? Of course, you don’t have to be in love to get married or to have kids together. But they do seem quite smitten with each other, despite being aware of the treachery afoot. Mollie knows that white men are just romancing the Osage to get their oil money. And Ernest surely knows that she knows. But she nevertheless still considers him as a pretty decent romantic prospect. Partly that’s because she and her sisters don’t really see many other options available for them. When Ernest eventually becomes fully culpable in William’s most murderous machinations, he’s already committed himself to his wife. And it never seems like an act. DiCaprio plays him like someone who never reckons with the moral implications of his behavior. This isn’t remorseless psychopathy. It’s more like family killing family, or friends killing friends, but with so much twisted rationalizing that it’s impossible to remain sane and/or sympathetic.
Shout, Shout, Let It All Out: Once the FBI takes an interest in all the Osage murders, we’re eventually led into a (somewhat) cathartic final act in which William is actually forced to answer for all his deeds in a court of law. Two towering performances in this section are bound to wake you up if you happen to be nodding off at this point. John Lithgow tries to keep things dignified for the prosecution, while Brendan Fraser casts up some fire and brimstone as Hale’s attorney W.S. Hamilton. I can’t help but chuckle at Lithgow whenever he’s in a courtroom, partly because it reminds me of the delightful short-lived NBC sitcom Trial & Error, and partly because his commanding voice is somehow simultaneously both so silly and so reasonable. Fraser meanwhile threatens to knock the entire proceedings off their axis. He’s just as over-the-top as he was in The Whale, but this time it affects me deeper to my core because everyone else is so modulated. These moments feel like being rumbled from a stupor, as all the crimes up to this point have been presented so matter-of-factly.
A Note on the Length: A different version of Killers of the Flower Moon could’ve been 2 hours or so, and it could’ve also been successful, but in a different way than it is now. At 3 hours and 26 minutes, you feel the full weight that goes along with reckoning with this dark chapter in American history. So if you’re planning on seeing it, get a good night’s sleep the day before and pop in some caffeine if you think it will help (but not too much!). And if you’re downing liquid while you’re watching and you don’t want to have to take a bathroom break, then pair it with something like popcorn or pretzel bites so that it won’t go straight through you.

Killers of the Flower Moon is Recommended If You Like: Dad books and Dad movies

Grade: 4 out of 5 Handsome Devils