Killers of the Flower Moon

Set against the massive canvas of 1920s Oklahoma, Martin Scorsese opens up America’s sinister wounds in a story of complicity, Killers of the Flower Moon.

Striking oil in the early 1920s led to a life of luxury for the Osage Nation. Each member of the tribe was delegated headright by the government making them the richest people in the world per capita. Their newfound wealth not only brought them prosperity but attracted a few malicious characters to their land, looking to overcharge and rob them. Many of the Osage people began to die from suicides, leaving behind their oil rights to the white spouses who would prey upon them. These killings were orchestrated by William Hale and his nephew Ernest Buckhart.

Based on the novel of the same name, Martin Scorsese and co-writer Eric Roth, reframe the story as a study of America’s colonialism and greed told through the lens of Mollie and Ernest’s marriage. Scorsese plants the poison in the land and he ultimately unravels the layers of each character until it's down to the horrific truth. Scorsese sets up the film from the inside out with still photographs and reels to interpret the Osage life. Mixing their heritage with their wealth, the Osage dressed well with cars and opulent houses. The Whites around them felt they didn’t deserve these luxuries. 

While he set out to make the Osage the focal point of his story, it comes down to the relationships between Ernest and William with the Osage providing the situation to examine their personalities. The details of Osage's rituals and beliefs are included in the story to make them fleshed-out characters and give a sense of the culture that was eventually wiped from civilization. By recreating these everyday moments of the Osage culture it is almost like it is helping future generations learn about their culture to put it back together. 

At the center is Ernest, a dull but charismatic man returning from the war. He finds him complicit in going along with the crimes of his uncle William. Although Ernest is committing horrid acts, it is not because he is evil, but the drive of greed. Leonardo DiCaprio sets the rumors straight that his return as Scorses’s muse is his best role to date. DiCaprio is the loosest he has ever been on screen, simply not overthinking the role at hand. He heavily leans into the contradictions of Ernest from loving husband to criminal seeking redemption. It is his everchanging character arc that keeps you compelled to his every word and movement.

Opposite of Leo is Robert De Niro who is terrifying as the subtle rich white man controlling the Osage. As Hale, he plants his evil amongst the town from starting school to speaking the language, fully taking on the identity as much as he can of the very people he is killing.  He understands his role to use complicit minds to do the work for him and remain in good standing.  William is the ruthless man pulling all the strings in Osage as he watches everyone scramble and fall into place.  Slaughter to them is a mundane activity. 

Lily Gladstone restrainedly commands the screen as Mollie Burkhart fueled by love and anger.  She is understanding of her fate from the very beginning and the danger she will constantly live in.  Her interactions with Ernest lead to a full-blown romance that at times is questioned because of his amorality. Even though Mollie is positioned as the heart of the film, she is limited to her health issues resulting in entire portions of the film leaving her in an insulin haze while Ernest is out killing her family. The life of Mollie is visually draining from her both literally and metaphorically. She deservedly gets her big moment near the end, but the story never takes the time to fully get to understand her outside of her relationship and family. 

Rodrigo Prieto captures the gorgeous prairies of 1920s Oklahoma accompanied by the trembling score of Robbie Robertson to build out a refreshing version of the Western genre. There is a sinister presence lingering amongst the idyllic land as silence and peace are disrupted by the appearance of its White settlers.. Prieto’s sober visuals present hatred and greed that infiltrates the beauty of the Osage.  Violence is swift in single wide shot with no stylized elements to hold the audience close to the evil.  The fluidity of the complicit camerawork mixed with Thelma Schoonmaker’s iconic cuts showcases the virus of the land housing the genocide as betrayal runs deep amongst the Osage and their White counterparts. Schoonmaker extends moments to linger with the audience to feel the heaviness of the viciousness on the frame.

There is minor relief amongst the dread through the love of Mollie and Ernest. They represent the broken relationship between the Native and White populations in America, even someone that close to you can hurt you in the worst way to imagine. There is valid questioning of the legitimacy of their domestic bliss because of Ernest’s wrongdoings. It is left up to Mollie and the viewer to inquire when Ernest can be redeemed. Killers lets the audience know who the perpetrators are in contrast to the book, so the mystery to Mollie is about her husband’s morals. He guides the film until the very end with an emotional standoff between the couple, giving Mollie her final answer. 

Marty closes out his gruesome epic with a reinvention of the typical “what happens to” slides. He never gives closer to what has been running for three and a half hours, instead drills in the long-lasting impacts of America’s greatest sin on today’s culture. This provocative ending reminds us of society’s desensitization to tragedy, only being able to consume it in an overdramatized spectacle. 

Scorsese paints a nauseating picture of the culprit’s ability to kill people beneath them for monetary gain. His direction is empathetic towards his subjects, handling the wickedness of their murders tastefully to underscore the colonialist attitude the White men had towards the Osage. Scorsese proves why he is one of America’s best filmmakers by taking on a dark period of American history with honesty. These murderers never once consider the humanity of their victims, simply seeing it as animal cruelty instead of murder. Killers of the Flower Moon is a brutal truth of America’s longstanding mistreatment of native populations spanning centuries, and the casualness towards these atrocities without consequences.