The Power of the Dog
Academy Award × 1
A domineering but charismatic rancher wages a war of intimidation on his brother's new wife and her teen son, until long-hidden secrets come to light.
What critics thought
DivisiveJane Campion's slow-burn psychodrama earned near-universal acclaim from critics, who placed it atop year-end lists in extraordinary numbers and praised its portrayal of repressed masculinity through Cumberbatch's performance and Campion's precise control of tone and character. The main fault line sits in the final act: most critics found the film's restraint and obliqueness a strength, while a dissenting camp felt the story's inherently tidy structure needed a more emotionally bruising payoff than Campion delivers. Audience scores have drifted considerably lower than critical opinion, suggesting the film's unhurried rhythms and withholding style play very differently outside the festival circuit.
“This is an exquisitely crafted film, its unhurried rhythms continually shifting as plangent notes of melancholy, solitude, torment, jealousy and resentment surface. Campion is in full control of her material, digging deep into the turbulent inner life of each of her characters with unerring subtlety.”
David Rooney·The Hollywood Reporter
“All of this should build, slowly and inexorably, in force and emotion. But for a film that's actually, at heart, rather tidy and old-fashioned in its triangular gamesmanship, The Power of the Dog needed to get to a more bruising catharsis. In its crucial last act, the film becomes too oblique.”
Owen Gleiberman·Variety
Genres
Drama, Western
Cast & Crew
DirectorJane Campion
StarringBenedict Cumberbatch, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Thomasin McKenzie
ComposerJonny Greenwood
The Power of the Dog
Academy Award × 1
A domineering but charismatic rancher wages a war of intimidation on his brother's new wife and her teen son, until long-hidden secrets come to light.
What critics thought
DivisiveJane Campion's slow-burn psychodrama earned near-universal acclaim from critics, who placed it atop year-end lists in extraordinary numbers and praised its portrayal of repressed masculinity through Cumberbatch's performance and Campion's precise control of tone and character. The main fault line sits in the final act: most critics found the film's restraint and obliqueness a strength, while a dissenting camp felt the story's inherently tidy structure needed a more emotionally bruising payoff than Campion delivers. Audience scores have drifted considerably lower than critical opinion, suggesting the film's unhurried rhythms and withholding style play very differently outside the festival circuit.
“This is an exquisitely crafted film, its unhurried rhythms continually shifting as plangent notes of melancholy, solitude, torment, jealousy and resentment surface. Campion is in full control of her material, digging deep into the turbulent inner life of each of her characters with unerring subtlety.”
David Rooney·The Hollywood Reporter
“All of this should build, slowly and inexorably, in force and emotion. But for a film that's actually, at heart, rather tidy and old-fashioned in its triangular gamesmanship, The Power of the Dog needed to get to a more bruising catharsis. In its crucial last act, the film becomes too oblique.”
Owen Gleiberman·Variety
Genres
Drama, Western
Cast & Crew
DirectorJane Campion
StarringBenedict Cumberbatch, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Thomasin McKenzie
ComposerJonny Greenwood