The Power Of The Dog

THE POWER OF THE DOG

Rancher Phil Burbank (Benedict Cumberbatch) is a rancher which brings fear to all around him. When his brother George( Jesse Plemons) brings home a wife, Rose (Kirsten Dunst) and her son Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee), the dynamic changes on the ranch.

Oh boy. A very slow burn here by Director Jane Campion, based on the book by Thomas Savage. The tension just builds and builds and builds. It is a very uncomfortable watch. Phil just psychologily harrasses Rose and then you try to figure out his play here with Peter. Slow difficult watch with an ending with a twist you did not see coming. We see glimpses of the ending but we kind of ignored it. 

The performances by all four leads are fantastic:

Cumberbatch gives an Oscar worthy performance as the bully Phil. The nasty brother. As the story goes on you wonder how many secrets he has in his past and maybe that is why he has so much anger in him.

Plemons and Dunst as Rose and George,  life couple by the way, are the exact opposite of Cumberbatch. They play their part wonderfully. Plemons plays George as the calm understanding brother. While Dunst as Rose has a slow breakdown...it's almost like Phil is whispering in her ear, and it seems like George does not notice it. Just a well performed interesting dynamic.

Then there is McPhee as Peter. An Oscar nod will be coming for this. No spoilers here. 

It is not a pleasant watch. Which is saved by a haunting ending. Was the ending done in anger? Or to give peace? Or is there issues there we did not see? 3 1/2 stars out of 5 for the front runner for the Oscar at this point. it is a tough watch.

From the shadows as always thanks fior your time.