Killers of the Flower Moon Review

Martin Scorsese is one of the greatest filmmakers ever who has made a multitude of classic movies. He has made another crime epic with his adaptation of Daniel Grann’s non-fiction book Killers of the Flower Moon.

In the early 20^th Century Osage County in Oklahoma was one of the wealthiest areas in the world after the Osage people discovered oil on their land. Due to racist laws of the time the Osage people are not allowed to access their money without a white guardian.

William “King” Hale (Robert De Niro) is a wealthy rancher who positions himself as a friend to the Osage but has secretly been plotting to steal their wealth. He encourages his nephew, Ernest Buckhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) to start a relationship with Mollie (Lily Gladstone) so he can have access to her headrights. As Osage people start to die, they seek assistance from the Federal Government to investigate.

Scorsese has a great collection of crime films to his name. There’s Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, Casino, and The Irishman. He has made films that are three hours long, like Casino and The Wolf of Wall Street and The Irishman was three and a half hours long. Killers of the Flower Moon was a similar length to The Irishman. Scorsese has been vocal about the state of cinema, due to the studios becoming more dependent on superhero films and franchises. He aimed to counter this by making a proper film for adults.

There was a risk that Scorsese was going to repeat himself since he had made so many crime films. The Wolf of Wall Street felt like a Scorsese greatest hits film. Fortunately, Killers of the Flower Moon did put a new spin on the crime genre. It was a mix of a historical crime drama, a gangster film, and a revisionist Western. It was a great mashup of these genres to make a unique film that manages to also feel classical.

On a base level Killers of the Flower Moon can be enjoyed as a historical crime film. There were lots of crimes, violence, and murders, and characters scheming to get rich through ill-gotten gains. The rural and small-town setting makes Killers of the Flower Moon stand out from the usual locations of New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Miami.

Killers of the Flower Moon did feel a lot like Broadwalk Empire (a show where Scorsese directed the pilot episode) because it had so many plot lines going on. King Hale plots throughout the film while pretending to be an ally to Osage and creating a nearly impenetrable wall of corruption when the FBI tries to investigate. He was the Nucky of this story. There was personal drama involving Ernest’s courtship of Mollie and trying to kill her. There were also wider storylines involving the FBI investigation and court case to bring down King Hale’s operation.

Killers of the Flower Moon also had a lot going on beyond the crime story. There were themes regarding race and gender. Despite their wealth, the Osage were looked down upon. White people came to the county to start businesses and gouged the Osage for everything they had and were running around the town like they owned the place. The authorities ignored and covered up the large number of Osage deaths. The abuse of the Osage suffered has extra meanings. On one level the Osage suffered from the same treatment as other Native American tribes where they were forced into reservations, their rights were restricted, and their land was used and exploited. The film could also be seen as a broader commentary about American imperialism and how they would do anything to secure their own energy interests.

Mollie suffered from a double prison of prejudice, being oppressed because of her race and gender. Men were targeting Osage women so they could inherit their headrights. Mollie was a strong-willed woman who was willing to speak her mind and even when her health declined, she was still determined to uncover who was responsible for the Osage deaths. Lily Gladstone did give a terrific performance as a woman who could perform a sly smile and roll her eyes, to someone who suffered physical and psychological trauma. Gladstone is already seen as an awards contender.

Killers of the Flower Moon did suffer from one issue affecting Hollywood: a bloated budget of $200 million. That budget would have been more fitting for a franchise film than a historical drama. There wasn’t an excessive use of special effects, like The Irishman’s use of de-aging technology. Oppenheimer was also a historical drama made by an A-list director and targeting a similar audience, but the Christopher Nolan film cost half as much as Killers of the Flower Moon. It seems like a high-risk film considering how much the cinematic landscape has changed and it will be released on Apple TV+ after its cinematic release.

Killers of the Flower Moon shows Martin Scorsese was able to reinvent an old genre for a modern audience by bringing in modern themes. It was a film that was a compelling and entertaining crime drama.