The Power of the Dog

⭐ 9.0/10

(Originally written by Tim)

I left this movie very unsure. I was pretty excited about this one after the beautiful and vague trailers, and true to form this movie was not at all what I expected.

It followers rancher brothers in 1925 Montana, where one is a macho jerk and the other a tender sweetheart. When the nice one gets married, the mean one absolutely torments his new sister-in-law and nephew, but there is a lot brewing under the surface. If feels like violence is always around the corner, and the score keeps you eternally on edge (Johnny Greenwood did this one, and it reminded me of There Will Be Blood).

My friend described it as scary Brokeback Mountain before we had even seen it, and he was spot on. The mean brother's angst always comes back to his relationship with his former mentor, Bronco Henry, and it becomes increasingly clear that this relationship was more than platonic. And when he begins to groom is nephew in a similar way, a nephew who is constantly berated for not being manly enough, the tension really ramps up.

Lots of repressed sexual imagery here, and it felt like a unique look into the people who we often consider to be the manliest of men. Benedict was amazing, and it has probably the most intense scenes involving someone playing the piano I have ever seen. It also looks incredible, taking place on these open plains at the foot of shadowed rolling hills.

I am still kind of grappling with what this movie was trying to say, and the ending is a twist that leaves you with even more questions. I'm pretty sure I loved it, at the least it gripped me in the theatre.