There’s a reason why ‘The Power of the Dog’ got such good press upon its theatrical release and again now that it is streaming. And that reason is that most working critics see anywhere from 100 to 300 films in a given calendar year. The films that are different – that have a unique rhythm, that don’t blend in with the same template used by 90% of commercially released films? Yeah, those are the ones that usually end up being the best of the year.
Oscar-winning filmmaker Jane Campion (The Piano) has slowed down the narrative in a way that adds tension, rather than making the film feel slow. It is that slow burn and Jonny Greenwood’s score that keep us leaning forward.
And it is Benedict Cumberbatch’s mean, dead-eyed performance that is the lynchpin. We see, by turns, jealousy, self-loathing, fear and a sociopathic predilection for, as my great grandmother used to say, “purdee meanness.”
Montana, 1925, the well-to-do Burbank brothers, Phil (Cumberbatch) and George (Jesse Plemons) are coming home to their ranch from a drive and stop at the Red Mill restaurant for dinner. Rose (Kirsten Dunst) is the owner and her son Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee) helps out by waiting the tables. Peter is a smart, ambitious kid who wants to be a physician, but as we first meet him, he is an effeminate, rail thin kid who is the perfect target for a bully like Phil.
And guess who’s coming to dinner?
But after a gut wrenching evening of ridicule, George, the kinder and more refined brother, comforts Rose and it isn’t long before he has married the widow and with his ample wealth arranged for the boy’s college education. Plemons is so good in this role. He has an undeniable gentility that stands in stark contrast to Phil, who refuses to come to an important dinner one night because George has asked him to bathe, and bathing is a deal breaker for Phil, who makes a grand show of his masculinity.
Since I never reveal spoilers, I will only say that Phil begins to menace Rose, watching her silently and when not silent, saying the exact things that he knows will unnerve her. The dynamics will also change between Phil and the boy and Campion skillfully puts a pit in our stomach – a sense of dread that may or may not be well-founded.
For me, every member of the cast is doing career best work, and that’s saying a lot. But Campion also has created a very specific sense of time and place. Her direction is precise, the cinematography by Ari Wegner is breathtaking and the costume design by Kirsty Cameron is just right.
And that’s why this film is getting such a warm embrace from the film critic community.
‘The Power of the Dog’ is streaming on Netflix | 3 ½ out of 4 Stars | Reviewed by Kyle Osborne
