Film Review — The Power of the Dog
Benedict Cumberbatch is superb in Jane Campion’s slow-burn, gripping, nuanced drama exploring masculinity and misogyny.
Masculinity and misogyny are under the microscope in Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog, adapted from the novel by Thomas Savage. It’s Campion’s first film in twelve years; one of her best, and likely to wind up with several Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. Released late last year, I deliberately waited to watch it, as I wanted to see it on the big screen rather than Netflix (here in south-west England, a cineaste must often wait for high profile Netflix features to be shown at a local independent cinema). Suffice to say, it was worth the wait, though had I seen it last year, I would almost certainly have added it to my ten best films of the year list.
Set amid the dying embers of the Old West, in Montana circa 1925, the film follows the relationship between successful ranch brothers Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch) and George (Jesse Plemons). The former is a man’s-man cowboy, with an apparently pathological hatred of anything remotely feminine. The latter is a quiet, lonely man who takes solace in his new marriage to local widow Rose (Kirsten Dunst). Unfortunately, Phil views her presence in their lives as a threat. A tense, unsettling, psychological clash…
