The Power of the Dog

The Power of the Dog

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.

  • Released: 2021-11-17
  • Runtime: 127 minutes
  • Genre: Drama, Romance, Western
  • Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Keith Carradine, Thomasin McKenzie, Geneviève Lemon, Adam Beach, Peter Carroll, Frances Conroy, Sean Keenan, Ken Radley, George Mason, Ramontay McConnell, David Denis, Cohen Holloway, Max Mata, Josh Owen, Alistair Sewell, Eddie Campbell, Alice Englert, Jacque Drew, Yvette Parsons, Bryony Skillington, Aislinn Furlong, Daniel Cleary, Richard Falkner, Tatum Warren-Ngata, Yvette Reid, Alice May Connolly, Stephen Lovatt, Stephen Bain, Ella Hope-Higginson, Piimio Mei, Edith Poor, Vadim Ledogorov, Julie Forsyth, Alison Bruce, Karl Willetts, David T. Lim, Maeson Stone Skuggedal, Ian Harcourt, Kenneth Radley, Sean Keenan, George Mason, Ramontay McConnell, David Denis, Cohen Holloway, Max Mata, Josh Owen, Alistair Sewell, Eddie Campbell, Alice Englert, Bryony Skillington, Jacque Drew, Yvette Parsons, Aislinn Furlong, Daniel Cleary, Richard Falkner, Tatum Warren-Ngata, Yvette Reid, Alice May Connolly, Stephen Lovatt, Stephen Bain, Ella Hope-Higginson, Piimio Mei, Edith Poor, Vadim Ledogorov, Julie Forsyth, Peter Carroll, Alison Bruce, Karl Willetts, David T. Lim, Adam Beach, Maeson Stone Skuggedal, Ian Harcourt
  • Director: Jane Campion
 Comments
  • irenbird-79310 - 19 April 2024
    Pretentious twaddle.
    This long and boring film is pretentious in the extreme. Full of long looks into the distance, unexplained events, confusing storyline, a non event. This was 2 hours of my life I will never get back. How anyone can describe this as a masterpiece is beyond me. Campion really shouldn't have bothered. I was also surprised to see an Englishman trying to be an American Redneck. Ms Campion, you have made some good stuff but this is a shocker. I tried very hard to like this film too but found it impossible. Some scenes were not only confusing and art for arts sake but were poorly filmed. Technically too, some parts were so obviously studio based with little effort made to make them realistic and authentic.
  • RECB3 - 12 January 2024
    A Difficult And Unfortunate Film To Watch
    I am not exactly sure how to feel about this film. I found it extremely difficult to watch. I am not sure how I was able to finish it. I could tell that the crew were really cautious when they were creating this film. The storyline of the film needed something else to make it better. The cast selection was fine. They really committed to their respective characters and it worked. This film reveals to viewers that it is completely alright to be yourself no matter what. In my lifetime, I have never been allowed to be myself. I have always had to pretend to be someone else. I do not have any kind of freedom in my life. This is a real difficult and unfortunate film to watch.
  • Miphed - 27 August 2023
    Suspenseful till the end!
    I didn't find the movie uninteresting as most of the viewers have commented. There have been several where I have just slept off. But this one somehow kept me engaged, as I had no idea what the story was. The plot also does not give at all, and you seem to think Benedicts character is upto no good. However it's the ending that gets all the pieces together. The movie is depressing though and not easy to the eyes. But it is definitely worth a one time watch. The acting is top notch. Also some of the scenes are detailed and cannot be missed. Overall, I wouldn't watch the movie again, as it was mainly the suspense that kept me hooked to the movie But surely don't regret watching it, so much better than many of the other crap movies I wasted my time on.
  • RES55 - 27 December 2022
    Five stars only for the visuals and acting...
    A year after release, 'The Power of the Dog' is in the Criterion Collection. That was sure fast. And it's just not that good, despite foaming-at-the-mouth critical acclaim and awards. It's actually a nasty story about an effeminate-but-not-queer kid who uses his new medical knowledge and guile to revenge-murder a screwed-up, unpleasant, tormented, misogynistic, closeted man (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) in 1925 Montana. The outcome is revealed in the very first voice-over. Moreover, it's a chronological catastrophe. Set ostensibly in 1925, we see the eventual killer-kid playing with a hula hoop, which didn't get invented until the late 1950s. 21st-century expressions abound like "I'm good", which sounds like a wrong note. The list of anachronisms goes on. One of the funniest is the Benedict Cumberbatch character's answer in the vernacular affirmative: "Bloody tootin'!", blending period British and US slang. Did no one notice? Also, despite all the research about the settlement of the west--and 1925 is at least 30 years too late for this, no one seems to have read that same-sex relationships and romance were not seen as shameful or even unusual in the old west. Director Jane Campion gets genuflecting praise because... she's Jane Campion, but although she makes New Zealand-as-Montana look breath-taking, and the acting is fine, this one, while captivating at the moments when it's not ponderous or embarrassing, is a mess.
  • lawsonlynn - 16 October 2022
    Undeserved Hype
    What a disappointment. I loved Jane Campion's "The Piano." When I read the glowing reviews for "Power of the Dog, I naturally assumed- with the critics universally collapsing in ecstasy - that this film must be really something. As an added bonus, I was able to watch it on Netflix BEFORE the Oscars.

    Then, I watched the movie. Once it was finally over, I wondered aloud, "Did I watch the wrong movie?" For starters, this movie -meant to undermine the myth of masculinity and the great American West - was filmed entirely on location in NEW ZEALAND. Refined British actor Benedict Cumberbatch plays a roughneck cowboy in this unbelievably depressing and boring flick. Anyone interested in a movie which explores the conflicts & self-destruction of American cowboys who don't want anyone else to know they are gay should watch "Brokeback Mountain." (That Heath Ledger was Australian was immaterial; "Brokeback" was simply better at this, in addition to being a great movie).

    I disliked "Power of the Dog" immensely and question whether the critics had even seen the movie at all. Ultimately, I was also angry. Everything about this production (including the undeserved reviews and multiple Oscar nominations), reeks of the kind of tone deaf self-indulgence so many of us have come to loath, particularly during a pandemic. The purpose of the movie is apparently to make the audience miserable as if the average person would spend good money to merely squirm in his seat and be lectured to by a New Zealander about the evils of American "toxic masculinity." Campion essentially seeks to de-romanticize John Wayne while scolding us for wanting to be entertained. What's not to love?

    The only reason I would recommend watching this movie is to be better informed about the type of crap which qualifies for recognition in Hollywood these days .
  • antoneingwaldson - 23 August 2022
    Bootless errand
    Maybe this movie is just so advanced that it is lost on me. Like all the other reviews say, its beautiful cinematography with captivating acting but their is just no story. The music is intense with an emotional build up, then.....nothing. Absolutely nothing happens in this movie, haha. I clicked no on the "spoiler" button because there's nothing to spoil.