First Take: The Power of the Dog - 12 Oscar nominations though...

SYNOPSIS: Charismatic rancher Phil Burbank inspires fear and awe in those around him. When his brother brings home a new wife and her son, Phil torments them until he finds himself exposed to the possibility of love.

There’s an art to the slow burner as they call it. Awards voters love these kinds of films, as they make actors suffer for their art, something which the Oscar contingent prove time and time again. This year, prolific Kiwi director Jane Campion is one of the leaders in the race for those trophies, and, well, I can see why it’s garnered so much attention, and also why it’s a Netflix film.

This is by no means an easy watch- Campion’s writing and direction is rooted in gritty realism, especially as it is based on a book by Thomas Savage, and given this film was initially shut down by the first Covid restrictions in her native New Zealand, it is an impressive effort to not only get this over the line, but also pull off sequences that really shouldn’t be at a 12 certificate. However, while her direction is strong, the runtime of 2 hours 6 minutes feels a little excessive, as there are big periods where nothing happens, but this might be a deliberate call to let the performances breathe- more on that in a bit. On cinematography duties is Ari Wegner, who uses a very natural look to set the scene, and providing the score is Jonny Greenwood, who is having an incredible awards season this year having worked on Licorice Pizza too.

Now, the real reason why the voters are loving this movie: four truly outstanding performances that managed to raise the rating of this film quite considerably. Benedict Cumberbatch, Jesse Plemons, Kirsten Dunst, and relatively new star Kodi Smit-McPhee. The four of them are the glue which holds this film together, and in Cumberbatch and Plemons’ case, it is incredible to see to awesome talents at work, with the pair of them sharing scenes that will make the montage reels on March 27th. But sadly, beyond the awards season, will this film get mainstream attention? Probably not. This is a pretty graphic film, which explains why Netflix took it in the first place- would a multiplex cinema show a film like this considering the official BBFC information is, well, enough to set off a few upset stomachs?

THE VERDICT

Power of the Dog is an almightily strong film, with some standout performances, a strong sense of direction, and is rightly the big film within the awards circle this year, but the pacing to runtime ratio prevents it from truly excelling. It’s gonna be an interesting Oscar run-in this year, that’s for sure.

RATING: 4/5