Killers of the Flower Moon

It’s almost difficult to start a discussion about Martin Scorsese’s latest feature. There is so much to draw from it and so much riding on it that it’s hard to know where to start. However, I think that’s almost a good way to sum up the film. It is so haunting and colossal that I left the cinema utterly speechless after the spiralling epic I’d just witnessed.

Now, I know a lot of people have been put off by the run time for Killers of the Flower Moon, but I can safely say that it flew by. Usually with long films, even ones I loved (like last year’s Babylon) I almost always start to feel the time by the halfway point. However, this film managed to be so utterly engrossing that it felt more like two hours than three and a half. The production design, screenplay, and gorgeous, sweeping cinematography were an absolute beauty to behold on the big screen (seeing the movie in IMAX also definitely helped), it was like seeing a monumental painting in a museum.

Scorsese immediately manages to suck you in from the very first moments. The opening scenes set the tone and establish the themes of identity and culture so perfectly, particularly through a fantastic score from Robbie Robertson that manages to be subtle, yet piercing.

Now, I would be amiss if I didn’t mention the fantastic performances. Obviously, we get the usual greatness we’ve come to expect from DeNiro and DiCaprio, but Lily Gladstone is the stand-out here, perfectly embodying all the pain, tension, and fear felt by the Osage tribe.

For all it’s grandiosity, I can’t shake the feeling that most people will wait for the Apple TV+ release to watch Killers of the Flower Moon. But if you’re on the fence, I implore you to witness it in the cinema. It’s a fantastic, timeless tale of race relations, betrayal, and history being swept under the rug. It unfortunately rings too true today, so I am so grateful that the story is being told and I hope that it will encourage more films like this to be made.