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There are very few directors who can pull an audience for whatever project they release in theaters, and fewer still who can be relied upon to consistently deliver a project that is as good as if not better than their last. Martin Scorsese is a member of this very exclusive club and his latest film Killers of the Flower Moon shows that he is as much a master in the field as he has ever been. His latest cinematic outing is among some of his best work with outstanding cinematography, performances, and expert pacing.
Killers of the Flower Moon tells the story of Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his uncle William Hale (Robert De Niro) who plot to steal the oil from the Osage Nation by marrying into the family and then methodically killing the members of the family to inherit the rights to the oil. Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemmons, Brendan Fraser, and John Lithgow also star.
Much like Oppenheimer earlier this year, Killers of the Flower Moon is a fantastic opportunity for the cast to showcase their abilities and potentially earn some Oscar nominations in the process. Lily Gladstone and Leonardo DiCaprio are virtual locks for Best Actress and Best Actor nominations with strong cases to be made for wins in those categories. De Niro also makes a case for Best Supporting Actor.
One of the most striking aspects of this film is the pacing, especially with a runtime of nearly three and a half hours. At no point does it feel overlong, nor does it feel like there is room to cut to shorten the film up. It is precisely as long as it needs to be. While it keeps viewers engaged with a relatively quick pace, there are a number of sequences that are shot in one take or shot in a way that is designed to let the moment hang that do not feel out of place, nor do they grind the pace to a halt. This should come as no surprise, however, considering this is something Scorsese has done consistently well over the course of his storied career.
In a world where there are such varied styles of television, all of which use different HDR settings, it would benefit a viewer to watch Killers of the Flower Moon in theaters, even if it is going to AppleTV+ in a few months. The film is visually dark which may be hard to see when it comes to home streaming where the film may not be graded properly to accommodate for the vast spectrum of televisions, tablets, phones, and other streaming devices (think back to House of the Dragon’s streaming issues). Either way, a film of this scale deserves to be seen on the biggest screen possible, especially considering the sound mix and score which are best experienced on a quality sound system that a premium format theater provides.
Final Rating: 10/10
