Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)
A true legend of the cinematic form, every new Martin Scorsese feature feels like a real treat. Following up his masterful 2019 effort, The Irishman, Scorsese is back for his 26th narrative feature, Killers of the Flower Moon. Adapting the 2017 book of the same name, Scorsese brings to life the true story of the Osage Indian murders that took place in the early 1900s. Largely led by a toxic mixture of greed and racism, these murders saw white outsiders trying to infiltrate the families and communities of the Osage people to take their wealth generated by oil production. Specifically, the film focuses on the evil efforts of the influential community leader William King Hale (Robert De Niro) and his nephew Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) as Ernest marries a woman named Mollie (Lily Gladstone) and the two begin to work their way through Mollie's family to ensure they will end up with their fortune.
Killers of the Flower Moon is a dark crime drama that works best when it allows its large ensemble to embrace emotion and anger. While those like Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro are predictably strong as they balance between wickedness and humanity, specifically they are strong with what they are given which the quality of will be discussed later, it is undeniably Lily Gladstone who steals the show and commands the screen. Building a worthy portrayal of grief and sorrow, Mollie's pain is the emotional anchor of the film that never lets the narrative wander too far from the tragic truth of the story being told. Between her efforts here and Erica Tremblay's debut feature, Funny Dance, Gladstone has had an unquestionable breakout year. In the supporting cast, Jesse Plemons and Cara Jade Myers both create memorable personas but it is ultimately Brendan Fraser who shines the brightest with only a handful of scenes showcasing his raw power and fierce ability to control a room. With such a wide cast, it would feel only natural for their to be some weak link but no player in this picture takes that spot with each performance feeling crafted and important.
Being a Scorsese feature, the film also holds a predictable merit when it comes to technical craft. The editing by Thelma Schoonmaker is an obvious highlight with the film capitalizing on a raw and grounded filmmaking style that never glorifies or idealizes the violence and tragedy taking place on screen. The score by Robbie Robertson feels instantly unique and effective as it broods with the longer runtime and is used effectively to help the film maintain momentum and energy. While there can be some debate surrounding how needed it was and how it was used, it also should be applauded how well the film moves within its 206-minute runtime. Compared to countless other films to release in 2023 alone, some of which are over 2-hours shorter than Killers of the Flower Moon, the feature does feel engaging enough to never overly drag or bore audiences how some might fear with a runtime of this length.
The final piece of major praise that needs to be given to the film is the cultural representation on screen of the Osage people. While it feels like authentically representing a culture on screen should be the bare minimum for a film to achieve, Hollywood has time and time again presented insensitive, inauthentic, and frustrating depictions of various cultures on screen. It is clear that Scorsese did have a genuine care about how presented the Osage community and culture. From how the film uses language to how it uses costumes and tactile displays of culture, the results feel authentic and honest. For more reading about the process Scorsese used in production to ensure these results, further reading can be done here and here.
It is a shame, however, that the narrative choices within Killers of the Flower Moon are overall abrasive to the Osage perspective and the story's most interesting aspects. While the film is a holistic capturing of these events, the undeniable main lens the film sticks to is through the events and perspective of Ernest Burkhart. On the outside, the choice to focus on Ernest's story seems to make sense. Ernest is the figure caught between worlds, the evil plan of his uncle and his connection with Mollie and her family. The film ultimately undercuts this perspective as Ernest's connection with Mollie is completely killed by the actions he goes through with and the trauma he relentlessly brings onto her. The film never allows Ernest to have a meaningful resistance to the pain he is causing and continually reinforces just how sinister and unredeemable the figure is.
This causes a massive complication in the final act of the film as the feature dances with a possible redemption arc for Ernest, a concept that not only falls emotionally flat but feels simply gross. To attempt to claim that there is an undercurrent of true love to their connection when Ernest is actively not only murdering Mollie's family but also is causing ongoing physical harm to her is a concept that is equally unneeded as it is dangerous. There is no catharsis to be found within Ernest's character and there is no moral complexity to how the audience should view him, he is an evil individual yet the film desperately wants to be able to raise him to be something deeper and more complex. Because of this intention, the film never quite feels willing to give Ernest the true venom that his actions hold causing the character to float in an ineffective purgatory.
This purgatory is easily the most frustrating part of the feature. Rather than developing and evolving the narrative over the course of the film's runtime, the film rather introduces the situation and simply continues to reinforce it over and over again. For a 206-minute runtime, there needs to be some justification for the size and scale the feature is asking the audience to embrace and engage with. The two options for this to be achieved is that the film's plot has enough complexity and substance to require such a length, and the other is that the film will have a weight and gravitas that is enhanced by the runtime, something achieved masterfully, for example, in Scorsese's own The Irishman. Killers of the Flower Moon has neither of these justifications and ultimately feels narratively like it is treading water even if the actual flow of the film is engaging.
Even this actual flow, however, feels somewhat off and tone deaf at times. There is no denying that the acts being portrayed on screen are vile displays of evil. They are racist, malicious, abusive, and traumatizing acts for the reason of greed and selfishness. As a result it is, at times, tonally confusing for the film to embrace so much comedy, especially in the dialogue shared between DiCaprio and De Niro. Partially due some of these interactions being the work of improv, many of the scenes shared between them end up feeling somewhat goofy and comedic in timing and nature. While this works to help keep the audience engaged and entertained through the film's long runtime, it can at times feel like a disservice to what the actual relationship between audience and character should be. What these characters are talking about, the acts they are discussing carrying out, the pain they are causing, there is no hint of humor but the film continually goes back to this entertainment mindset in spending time with these characters. While this is something that might work better in The Wolf of Wall Street, it does not translate to stakes within Killers of the Flower Moon. If this felt like a necessity for the size of the feature, then clearly the runtime should have been looked at and another solution needed to be found to not threaten to undercut the real life tragedy being seen on screen.
What is even more concerning and frustrating is how the film could have been better spent its runtime. Consistently, the film pushes the Osage people, including Mollie, into the background as passive characters that struggle to take meaningful action as active participants of the story. While there are conversations between Osage leaders that something must be done, nearly every form of actual action within the film comes from those outside of the community. The film rarely allows these characters to actually speak or control the narrative. Even with her stunning performance, Gladstone has her life and agency stripped from her at the hands of Ernest with her character never getting the big moment of expression that she so desperately deserves. While the portrayal of the Osage culture remains strong, their role in the story feels horribly misguided; another tragic result of the film's clearly flawed focus and direction.
When one takes into account everything about Killers of the Flower Moon, it is clear that the film is an underwhelming disappointment. While Scorsese and his partners remain untouched when it comes to technical craft and the performers all around deliver what they are given well, there is a fundamental flaw within the brain and soul of Killers of the Flower Moon. The focus, the tone, and the direction fail to do the tragic story within the film justice and ultimately fails to find the grand conclusion it desperately hopes for. The film's view of Ernest Burkhart is troubling and creates an inner conflict that the film can never escape from. What the film wants the story to be and what the story actually is are two very different things and this relationship never comes together as it should. While far from being a disaster, this is far from the masterpiece many hoped it would be and in terms of Scorsese's overall career, it has to be seen as one of his lesser efforts overall.
Killers of the Flower Moon is a dark crime drama that works best when it allows its large ensemble to embrace emotion and anger. While those like Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro are predictably strong as they balance between wickedness and humanity, specifically they are strong with what they are given which the quality of will be discussed later, it is undeniably Lily Gladstone who steals the show and commands the screen. Building a worthy portrayal of grief and sorrow, Mollie's pain is the emotional anchor of the film that never lets the narrative wander too far from the tragic truth of the story being told. Between her efforts here and Erica Tremblay's debut feature, Funny Dance, Gladstone has had an unquestionable breakout year. In the supporting cast, Jesse Plemons and Cara Jade Myers both create memorable personas but it is ultimately Brendan Fraser who shines the brightest with only a handful of scenes showcasing his raw power and fierce ability to control a room. With such a wide cast, it would feel only natural for their to be some weak link but no player in this picture takes that spot with each performance feeling crafted and important.
Being a Scorsese feature, the film also holds a predictable merit when it comes to technical craft. The editing by Thelma Schoonmaker is an obvious highlight with the film capitalizing on a raw and grounded filmmaking style that never glorifies or idealizes the violence and tragedy taking place on screen. The score by Robbie Robertson feels instantly unique and effective as it broods with the longer runtime and is used effectively to help the film maintain momentum and energy. While there can be some debate surrounding how needed it was and how it was used, it also should be applauded how well the film moves within its 206-minute runtime. Compared to countless other films to release in 2023 alone, some of which are over 2-hours shorter than Killers of the Flower Moon, the feature does feel engaging enough to never overly drag or bore audiences how some might fear with a runtime of this length.
The final piece of major praise that needs to be given to the film is the cultural representation on screen of the Osage people. While it feels like authentically representing a culture on screen should be the bare minimum for a film to achieve, Hollywood has time and time again presented insensitive, inauthentic, and frustrating depictions of various cultures on screen. It is clear that Scorsese did have a genuine care about how presented the Osage community and culture. From how the film uses language to how it uses costumes and tactile displays of culture, the results feel authentic and honest. For more reading about the process Scorsese used in production to ensure these results, further reading can be done here and here.
It is a shame, however, that the narrative choices within Killers of the Flower Moon are overall abrasive to the Osage perspective and the story's most interesting aspects. While the film is a holistic capturing of these events, the undeniable main lens the film sticks to is through the events and perspective of Ernest Burkhart. On the outside, the choice to focus on Ernest's story seems to make sense. Ernest is the figure caught between worlds, the evil plan of his uncle and his connection with Mollie and her family. The film ultimately undercuts this perspective as Ernest's connection with Mollie is completely killed by the actions he goes through with and the trauma he relentlessly brings onto her. The film never allows Ernest to have a meaningful resistance to the pain he is causing and continually reinforces just how sinister and unredeemable the figure is.
This causes a massive complication in the final act of the film as the feature dances with a possible redemption arc for Ernest, a concept that not only falls emotionally flat but feels simply gross. To attempt to claim that there is an undercurrent of true love to their connection when Ernest is actively not only murdering Mollie's family but also is causing ongoing physical harm to her is a concept that is equally unneeded as it is dangerous. There is no catharsis to be found within Ernest's character and there is no moral complexity to how the audience should view him, he is an evil individual yet the film desperately wants to be able to raise him to be something deeper and more complex. Because of this intention, the film never quite feels willing to give Ernest the true venom that his actions hold causing the character to float in an ineffective purgatory.
This purgatory is easily the most frustrating part of the feature. Rather than developing and evolving the narrative over the course of the film's runtime, the film rather introduces the situation and simply continues to reinforce it over and over again. For a 206-minute runtime, there needs to be some justification for the size and scale the feature is asking the audience to embrace and engage with. The two options for this to be achieved is that the film's plot has enough complexity and substance to require such a length, and the other is that the film will have a weight and gravitas that is enhanced by the runtime, something achieved masterfully, for example, in Scorsese's own The Irishman. Killers of the Flower Moon has neither of these justifications and ultimately feels narratively like it is treading water even if the actual flow of the film is engaging.
Even this actual flow, however, feels somewhat off and tone deaf at times. There is no denying that the acts being portrayed on screen are vile displays of evil. They are racist, malicious, abusive, and traumatizing acts for the reason of greed and selfishness. As a result it is, at times, tonally confusing for the film to embrace so much comedy, especially in the dialogue shared between DiCaprio and De Niro. Partially due some of these interactions being the work of improv, many of the scenes shared between them end up feeling somewhat goofy and comedic in timing and nature. While this works to help keep the audience engaged and entertained through the film's long runtime, it can at times feel like a disservice to what the actual relationship between audience and character should be. What these characters are talking about, the acts they are discussing carrying out, the pain they are causing, there is no hint of humor but the film continually goes back to this entertainment mindset in spending time with these characters. While this is something that might work better in The Wolf of Wall Street, it does not translate to stakes within Killers of the Flower Moon. If this felt like a necessity for the size of the feature, then clearly the runtime should have been looked at and another solution needed to be found to not threaten to undercut the real life tragedy being seen on screen.
What is even more concerning and frustrating is how the film could have been better spent its runtime. Consistently, the film pushes the Osage people, including Mollie, into the background as passive characters that struggle to take meaningful action as active participants of the story. While there are conversations between Osage leaders that something must be done, nearly every form of actual action within the film comes from those outside of the community. The film rarely allows these characters to actually speak or control the narrative. Even with her stunning performance, Gladstone has her life and agency stripped from her at the hands of Ernest with her character never getting the big moment of expression that she so desperately deserves. While the portrayal of the Osage culture remains strong, their role in the story feels horribly misguided; another tragic result of the film's clearly flawed focus and direction.
When one takes into account everything about Killers of the Flower Moon, it is clear that the film is an underwhelming disappointment. While Scorsese and his partners remain untouched when it comes to technical craft and the performers all around deliver what they are given well, there is a fundamental flaw within the brain and soul of Killers of the Flower Moon. The focus, the tone, and the direction fail to do the tragic story within the film justice and ultimately fails to find the grand conclusion it desperately hopes for. The film's view of Ernest Burkhart is troubling and creates an inner conflict that the film can never escape from. What the film wants the story to be and what the story actually is are two very different things and this relationship never comes together as it should. While far from being a disaster, this is far from the masterpiece many hoped it would be and in terms of Scorsese's overall career, it has to be seen as one of his lesser efforts overall.