Killers of the Flower Moon

Apple Original Films

Reviewed for FilmFactual by Abe Friedtanzer

Director: Martin Scorsese

Writer: Eric Roth & Martin Scorsese

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Jesse Plemons, Lily Gladstone, Tantoo Cardinal, John Lithgow, Brendan Fraser, Cara Jade Myers, JaNae Collins, Jillian Dion, William Belleau, Louis Cancelmi, Tatanka Means, Michael Abbot Jr., Pat Healy, Scott Shepard, Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson

Screened at: Vine Theater, LA, 8/12/23

Opens: October 20^th, 2023

Many of director Martin Scorsese’s films star either Leonardo DiCaprio or Robert De Niro. His collaborations with the former go back two decades, while his cinematic relationship with the latter spans five. While the two have appeared on screen together once before in a Scorsese project – his 2015 promotional short The Audition – Killers of the Flower Moon marks their first time jointly headlining a feature film. This epic is the latest cinematic saga from Scorsese, one which spotlights a different world of crime in its depiction of one white family’s extensive efforts to keep their Indigenous neighbors from the fortune that has been deemed to be rightfully theirs.

Ernest Burkhart (DiCaprio) comes home from war and is warmly welcomed by his uncle William Hale (Robert De Niro), who lives in Osage country in Oklahoma. The Osage are a wealthy people thanks to the discovery of oil on their land, and its people possess valuable headrights. Ernest soon falls for an Osage woman, Mollie (Lily Gladstone), and, at the urging of his uncle, marries her so that he may benefit from her wealth. Being part of the family isn’t enough, and Ernest soon finds himself involved in his uncle’s plans to ensure that the money comes flowing straight back to them.

Scorsese’s new film, based on the book of the same name by David Grann, runs two hours and thirty-six minutes, his second film in just a few years to cross the three-hour mark. That length doesn’t feel overly extraneous, though its events begin with Ernest’s arrival in Oklahoma and don’t cover all that much time. It demonstrates a clear commitment to character as its personalities are fleshed out and the motives of those who feel others have what they don’t deserve become less secretive. There isn’t any specific point where it feels as if the film drags, though it’s certainly possible that it could have been trimmed, especially since it doesn’t track an entire lifetime like Scorsese’s previous long movie, The Irishman, did.

DiCaprio makes Ernest someone who seems sympathetic if a bit gleefully dim-witted, all too eager to not ask questions if he doesn’t expect to like the answers. He gradually shows another side of him, one that willingly buries objectionable truths, in a layered and engaged performance that sometimes feels deliberately unreadable. De Niro sinks his teeth into Hale, who delights in being a (metaphorically) mustache-twirling villain when the moment suits him and plays the heroic white savior at every other possible opportunity. Much as it’s enticing to see these two screen legends from different generations onscreen together, there are a number of other standouts in the cast.

Gladstone, who has had a terrific year with roles in Fancy Dance and The Unknown Country, imbues Mollie with a genuine kindness and respect that unfortunately allows others to take advantage of her, yet she still communicates plenty without saying much. Despite limited roles, Scott Shepherd, Louis Cancelmi, Jason Isbell, and Ty Ramsey are all quite memorable as opportunists of different degrees, while Cara Jade Myers and Tantoo Cardinal make a lasting impression as Mollie’s strong-willed sister Anna and mother Lizzie Q. Jesse Plemons also turns in a superb performance as a lawman dubious to the many excuses given to him for misconduct when he comes to town to investigate.

Killers of the Flower Moon showcases its own mob elements yet feels distinctly different from much of Scorsese’s most popular work. Its strongest comparison might be Gangs of New York, an immersive period piece that spends just as much time getting to know its era as it does its key players. Scorsese smartly teams again with partners like cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, editor Thelma Schoonmaker, casting director Ellen Lewis, and the late composer Robbie Robertson, while working very effectively for the first time with production designer Jack Fisk and costume designer Jacqueline West, among others. The result is a thoroughly engaging if admittedly long film, one that brings a sensational true story to carefully curated life, probing the ways in which people are so often motivated by selfish self-preservation and baseless prejudice.

206 minutes

Story – B+

Acting – A-

Technical – A-

Overall – B+