“Killers of the Flower Moon,” Martin Scorsese’s American epic based on the genocidal conspiracy against the Osage Nation during the 1920s, is a potent commentary on the corruptive spirit of American capitalism. Its three-and-a-half-hour runtime spans multiple genres, from gangster drama to love story, which are woven together by the film’s brilliant anachronistic score.
Adapted from David Grann’s book, the film follows the sweeping tale about the end of the Wild West and the birth of the 20th century. However, it is more interested in the sinister mastermind and his favorite lapdog, two figures who personify greed and the ruthless pursuit of wealth at the expense of the Osage Nation. William Hale’s conviction that America was still a place where certain people could get away with murder committed in the name of white progress forms one of the film’s most distressing narratives.
Despite the grandeur of its backdrop and the depth of its source material, the film’s true strength lies in its character study. It becomes a twisted love story about the marriage between an Osage woman and the white man who helped murder her entire family for their oil fortune. Leonardo DiCaprio’s performance as the dim-witted Ernest Burkhart is arguably one of the best of his career, while Lily Gladstone’s performance as Mollie Kyle is equally powerful.
However, the film’s limited focus on its characters and their immediate surroundings often excludes the wider context of the Osage Nation’s experiences, which may make some aspects of the film’s narrative seem more of an anomaly than a symptom of a deeper American sickness. Scorsese’s ability to tell any story rubs up against his ultimate admission that this might not be his story to tell.
“Killers of the Flower Moon” is a sprawling, multi-genre narrative that offers a potent commentary on the corruptive spirit of American capitalism. Its strength lies in its character study, with the performances of DiCaprio and Gladstone standing out as particularly notable. While its pinhole focus sometimes limits its potential for broader commentary, Scorsese’s skillful storytelling and cinematic flair remain as potent as ever. It is a powerful film that critiques the dark corners of American history, uncovering a tale of greed, corruption, and the mottled soul of a country born from the belief that it belonged to anyone callous enough to take it.
