The Power of the Dog
Jane Campion’s long-awaited return to big-screen film is an unflinching western that ripples with prickly tension with Benedict Cumberbatch as a hard-bitten rancher.
Cumberbatch and Jesse Plemons star as the Burbank brothers, Phil and George, who run a successful cattle ranch in the hills of Montana. The brothers are inseparable. However, Phil is outraged out of all proportion when George abruptly takes a wife (Kirstin Dunst). Phil is clearly a brutal and cruel man but beneath the sneer there is another side to him.
Campion captures devastating moments of isolation, during which his façade begins to crack. It’s a brawny, brooding drama about the wreckage caused by men, reflected in Johnny Greenwood’s haunting and atmospheric score. Cumberbatch is a revelation.