Hello film fans, Slick Dungeon here! I’m back to review another one of the Oscar nominated films for this year. I’m going to review Killers of the Flower Moon which is up for 10 of the prestigious awards this year. There will be spoilers for this film below so if that sort of thing bothers you, grab your chauffeur, head over to the theater, watch the movie and come on back here to read the review.

What’s It About?

Killers of the Flower Moon tells the story of what happened when the Osage Nation struck it rich with oil in Oklahoma. Beyond becoming incredibly wealthy almost overnight, the Osage people in this area were also exploited and targeted for violence and murder on a scale nearly unheard of at the time. It was so bad that Mollie Burkhart (Lilly Gladstone) traveled to Washington DC, despite being very sick with diabetes, to beg for help. Help did come, in the form of the FBI and a formal investigation was launched delving into the background of the killings.

The film tells this story mostly from the perspective of Ernest Berkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio), a World War I veteran and nephew to William King Hale (Robert De Niro). Hale has been taking advantage of the situation by befriending Osage people, taking out insurance claims on them, and then having them murdered. He all but orders Ernie to marry Mollie because when the rest of Mollie’s family dies, her large estate will go to her, or in the case of her death, her husband and children. It’s basically a gigantic insurance scheme, loaded with violence, scheming and plenty of con artistry.

But one thing Hale, who is known around town as a member in good standing, friendly to the Osage people, did not count on is for Ernie to actually love his wife. The story unfolds with Ernie doing awful things behind the scenes that he is hiding from his wife, including robbery and even up to the point of hiring killers to kill Mollie’s family members.

The violence in the movie here is not overly gratuitous for the most part but when it happens it is utterly, wildly, shocking and comes when least expected making it superbly effective when we see it. The results of the violence are sometimes overly graphic but when put in the context of what is happening in the film doesn’t feel exploitative to the audience.

In the backdrop of all this there is building tension between Osage people and white people. This is especially notable as in one scene we see the people in the film watching newsreels of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre. This makes the people in the film, and the audience watching, feel like this situation is a powder keg just about to explode.

Mollie has enough resources to gather the Osage elders and hire a private investigator to look into the deaths of not just her family but those of several other Osage people she knows. This is especially difficult to do because the laws on the books at the time required court appointed white people to be the legal guardians of Osage individuals because they were considered, “incompetent.” A ridiculous notion but this was absolutely a real law at the time. And this meant Mollie had to go through back channels and around roadblocks to hire anyone that might help.

Unbeknownst to Mollie, Earnest Burkhart was working with his uncle and was in a prime position to kill or have killed any investigators that might come. All the while, Ernie acts as if maybe he actually does love his wife, who is suffering from diabetes. In order to keep Mollie alive so that he can inherit all her money, King Hale makes sure Earnest gets a new medicine called insulin to treat her illness.

The private investigator is killed but Mollie is not giving up, even though more of her family members keep dying and she is quite sick. She decides to travel all the way to Washington DC to convince President Coolidge to help her. In typical fashion he says less than five words to her so she thinks nothing will come of it.

She returns to her loving husband but keeps making noise around town. Soon, an FBI agent shows up named Thomas Bruce White Sr. (Jesse Plemons). He’s not afraid to ask around town about what is happening. Meanwhile, Ernie has been using Mollie’s needed insulin shots to add a sedative to keep her quiet.

The movie turns into a bit of a cat and mouse game for a while between the FBI and King Hale and all his cohorts. But, it turns out the mice aren’t very smart and they all start turning on each other. It also doesn’t help that Burkhart and Hale have stiffed several of their criminal fellows to the point where they want to turn on them.

At long last the law catches up to Ernie Burkhart who by this point has several children with his wife and at least says he loves her. He begins intending to testify against his uncle until he is brought to trial where Hart’s lawyer says he is also Burkhart’s lawyer. Ernie changes his mind and goes back to his uncle’s side.

Mollie is found nearly unconscious and definitely suffering by the FBI agents and rushed to a hospital. She is given regular insulin shots without anything extra added and is restored to health.

But, one of Mollie and Ernie’s children dies. Burkhart is certain his uncle is behind it and decides he is now going to testify against his uncle. He gives damning witness testimony but also exposes himself as being incredibly involved in the orchestration of the killing of Mollie’s relatives.

Mollie goes to meet with Burkhart in jail and asks him if he has told all his secrets. He says he has but he doesn’t admit to drugging his wife. She leaves him without a word, presumably never to return.

Oddly, the film ends with tying everything up by showing us an audience watching a radio broadcast. I guess it’s better than just writing cold text on a screen, and we get a cameo from director Martin Scorsese here which is neat to see. We get a summary of the prison time and consequences felt by Hale, Burkhart and everyone involved. We also find out Mollie dies at a pretty young age of 36 succumbing to her diabetes.

The film’s last scene is an overhead shot of a 21st-century Osage powow dancing circle.

All in all, the film tells a much ignored story and does so well, although I am not sure we get the story from the best perspective here. While the true hero of the story is Mollie, we mostly see things from the view point of the villain. I’m not sure what the best approach would be but I suspect there could have been better angles to tell the story from. Still, the movie is extremely compelling and yet another entry from a master filmmaker so it makes sense that it has been nominated for so many Oscars.

The Awards

Speaking of awards, here’s what I think in each of the categories for the film.

Supporting Actor

Robert De Niro is up for his role as King Hale. It’s been a while since we’ve seen De Niro in a role where he wasn’t just playing himself or a version of one of the characters he is famous for. This role actually showed his skill as an actor and allowed him much more of a range than we have seen in a long time. I think he has an extremely good chance of winning here. There is notable competition with Sterling K. Brown for American Fiction, Ryan Gosling for his role as Ken in Barbie, and Mark Ruffalo for Poor Things. But it’s never smart to bet against Robert De Niro winning an Oscar. I think he’s the most likely but we’ll have to see.

Best Actress

Lily Gladstone is up for her role as Mollie Burkhart and she pulled off a complicated and challenging role. She was fascinating to watch in every moment of the film. But, again she has a lot of competition. She’s facing off against Annette Benning for Nyad, Sandra Huller for Anatomy of a Fall, Carey Mulligan for Maestro, and Emma Stone for Poor Things. At this point, I see this as a competition between Gladstone and Emma Stone with both having an equal shot at winning. If Gladstone does win, no one is going to think she is not deserving because she certainly knocked it out of the park here.

Cinematography

No doubt the cinematography here is gorgeous and great effort and thought was put into it. Had Oppenheimer not been nominated in this category I would say this film was an easy win for it. But, with Oppenheimer in this category, I think Killers of the Flower Moon is a very close second. The other nominees here are El Conde, Maestro, and Poor Things.

Costume Design

Again the costume design is great here both as a period piece and it treats the Osage Nation with great care. But, I think there are more likely winners here including Napoleon and Poor Things. The other nominees are Oppenheimer and Barbie, either of which could also sneak out a win.

Directing

Martin Scorsese is up for yet another Oscar. If he won, no one would be surprised. And on almost any other year if he was up for the award I would say he is a lock for it. But, he is competing against Christopher Nolan for Oppenheimer which was such a notable film that I can’t really see anyone else winning here. I wouldn’t place money on it but I think Scorsese is not going to win. He’s also up against Justine Triet for Anatomy of a Fall, Yorgos Lanthimos for Poor Things, and Jonathan Glazer for The Zone of Interest.

Film Editing

I hate to keep saying this because I really think Killers of the Flower Moon is an excellent film but it’s going to lose to Oppenheimer. The film editing here is spot on and the scenes depicting violence intercut with the way we see slower, more emotional scenes is just brilliant. But it is not quite as brilliant as Oppenheimer. The other nominees are Anatomy of a Fall, The Holdovers, and Poor Things.

Music (Original Score)

In this category, I fully believe Killers of the Flower Moon is going to win. And that is despite being up against John Williams for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. The score works so well in Killers of the Flower Moon that it can’t be ignored. The music is beautiful and knows just when and where to ratchet up the tension or dial things back to give the audience a moment of relief. I could certainly be wrong but this is a more than deserving score. The other movies in question here are Oppenheimer, American Fiction, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, and Poor Things.

Music (Original Song)

There is so much going on in this category. First, Dianne Warren is yet again up for an Oscar and she has yet to win one other than the Academy Honorary Award which acknowledges a career rather than a single song or soundtrack. This means Warren might get one here just because she is so overdue for one. Her song is The Fire Inside from Flamin’ Hot. Second, Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People) from Killers of the Flower Moon is up for the award. This is an Osage language song and is simply beautiful and it recognizes a culture often ignored (or sometimes demonized) in Hollywood films. Barbie was nominated for two songs in this category and might end up splitting the vote on itself for I’m Just Ken and What Was I Made For? Finally, It Never Went Away from American Symphony written and performed by John Batiste is up for the award. Batiste is a straight up musical genius and in my opinion, he has the most valid claim to this award. I predict he will win unless I’m Just Ken sneaks away with it.

Best Picture

It’s a little heartbreaking that Killers of the Flower Moon came out the same year as Oppenheimer because I think it is going to get fewer awards than it deserves. But Oppenheimer is virtually impossible to ignore in this category and is the odds on favorite to win. I truly enjoyed Killers of the Flower Moon but I have to call this for Oppenheimer. I’ll be reviewing all of the other films up for this award this week but I’ll be shocked if any of them change my mind here.

Production Design

The production design is great here and there were plenty of complicated sets that had to be made and used for the film. But, in this case, I think Barbie really has the upper hand. This category does have some other notable films including Oppenheimer, Napoleon, and Poor Things. Barbie remains my bet here but if Killers of the Flower Moon took it home, they would be deserving.

In Conclusion

This is a great film with excellent directing, sound, cinematography and acting. If this was released in any other year I really would put it as the odds on favorite to win all the Oscars. But it is up against such a masterpiece in Oppenheimer that this film may not see the full recognition it deserves. Don’t let that stop you from watching it because it is an excellent film.

Awardingly yours,

Slick Dungeon