The Power of the Dog

Now showing on Netflix.

Jane Campion writes and directs an adaptation of Thomas Savage’s novel. Set at the turn of the 20th century Benedict Cumberbatch and Jesse Plemmons are ranch owning brothers Phil and George Burbank. From the start we see the brothers are not close, with a relationship that is strained and distant. That is exacerbated when George meets Rose (Kirsten Dunst) a widowed restaurant owner. When they marry this drives the brothers apart, as does Phil’s animosity to Rose and her son Pete (Kodi Smit-Mcphee). When they finally all end up at the ranch, the relationships strain and change in unexpected ways.

This is a hard film to put in a box and that’s a deliberate choice by Campion as the story moves and changes, leaving you wondering just what type of story this is before it turns once more with a rather unexpected ending.

The story telling is patient and deliberate and it does take a while to draw you in, as you’re never quite sure what your watching and where it’s heading. But it is compelling as the oppressive nature of the relationships feel as suffocating for the viewer as it does for those in the story.

The story is wonderfully layered and complex as the central cast drift in and out of the film, evolving continually over the films vague timeline.

Peformances are excellent but the film centres around Benedict Cumberbatch’s Peter, an intelligent but gruff unfriendly cowboy, distant and lonely, sinister and cruel. Cumberbatch portrays all of that beautifully. Plemmons as the seemingly more cultured brother, also presents that feeling of living in Phils shadow. Dunst carries a sadness and a worry as Plemmons wife as she battles her own demons and Kodi Smit-Mcphee as Peter, smart, sensitive, dealing with the loss of his father and the difficulty of fitting in to the “man’s world” he finds himself in.

Each of the characters we see is battling with their pasts and their secrets and that makes each of them fascinating, as does the ambiguity around them. None of their secrets truly revealed, the film keeps you wondering as it roles into the final credits.

It’s a very different film and for that it should be applauded, never settling into the film you think it is and ending in a way that is unexpected. Yes it does move slowly and some may find that difficult, but for those who persist the story intrigues and pulls you in, ultimately providing a rewarding watch. The more I think back to it, the better a film I relise it is.