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Power of the Dog (2021) Movie Review
Burning it down, one ember at a time….
In 1925 Montana Phil and George Burbank (Benedict Cumberbatch, Jesse Plemons) own a ranch. Phil is an overbearing bully who feels his brother hasn’t done enough for the ranch. George feels isolated by his brother so he decides to marry Rose Gordon (Kirsten Dunst) who runs a local restaurant with her young son, Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee). Why he thought his brother would accept these new additions was beyond my understanding and probably adds to the idea that George lives in constant denial.
Phil feeling threatened by these new arrivals, not only for George’s time and attention but also for his standing as the dominant figure at the ranch. There are definite themes of homosexuality running throughout the entirety of this movie. It doesn’t seem like something people are discussing this but it is pretty obvious to me. Phil is a repressed man in a situation where if he were to make his feelings known or hint at them, he would be open to the greatest of scrutiny. So, he does the opposite, and protests too much, to take something from Shakespeare. A lot of reviewers seem to have taken this as some sort of scheming on his part. But a lot of the actions that are looped into this “scheming.” Are some that he was doing long…
