By: Andrew Wing

The Power of the Dog is a 2021 Western drama film written and directed by Jane Campion, based on the 1967 novel of the same name by Thomas Savage. The film stars Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange, The Imitation Game, Sherlock), Kirsten Dunst (Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, Melancholia, Fargo), Jesse Plemons (Jungle Cruise, Breaking Bad, Fargo), and Kodi Smit-McPhee (Let Me In, Slow West).

The film was shot mostly across rural Otago (region of New Zealand) by cinematographer Ari Wegner, and the film is an international co-production between New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada.

The Power of the Dog had its world premiere at the 78th Venice International Film Festival on September 2, 2021, where Campion won the Silver Lion for Best Direction. The film had a limited theatrical release in Australia and New Zealand on November 11, 2021, and in the United States and the United Kingdom on November 17, before it was officially released to stream worldwide on Netflix on December 1.

The film has received widespread acclaim from critics, and has also been named one of the best films of 2021 by the American Film Institute. It also received seven nominations (tied for most with Belfast) at the 79th Golden Globe Awards (scheduled for January 9, 2022), including Best Motion Picture - Drama, as well as ten nominations at the 27th Critics’ Choice Awards (also taking place on January 9th of next year), including Best Picture.

THE GOOD

I can’t tell you how excited I have been for this movie. It had one of those awesome yet subtle trailers that just left you on the edge of your seat eager to know more. Also, this is the newest film from Jane Campion, who hasn’t made a film since 2009, which shows she is clearly very careful about which projects she does and that only got me more excited. Campion is someone I’m sure most casuals don’t know. Her magnum opus is definitely The Piano, the 1993 period drama film that won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. It also won three Academy Awards out of eight total nominations at the 66th Academy Awards in March of 1994. My last reason for why I have been so hyped for this is because it is easily one of the biggest Oscar contenders of the year. So without further ado, let’s find out if it is as true a contender as people are making it out to be, or if it’s just a pretender.

I won’t waste any time, it is definitely not a pretender, it is a legitimate contender. One award it will be contending for is Best Director, and Campion has as good a shot as anyone to win this award. I know I said The Piano is widely regarded as Campion’s best, but I’ve seen that, and I think this is way better. There is no denying this film is way more cinematic as Campion expertly crafted every inch of this film. Her direction is really all over this film, and I just loved her portrait of the west and how she didn’t shy away from shining the light on the brutal systems that we associate with the American west. Systems such as masculinity and class hierarchy. What I admired the most was just how locked in Campion is with her characters and how interested she is in what is going on between them. She just gave this film its own atmosphere that was so enticing and I would love nothing more than to see her win Best Director for what I think is her masterpiece.

Direction is obviously huge when it comes to the success of a film, but no film is successful without some incredible performances and this film has their fair share of them. However, none pack a bigger punch than that of Benedict Cumberbatch. Cumberbatch is simply unbelievable in this film. It was so weird to see him playing an unlikeable character as he is usually the good guy, but I still loved every second of it. He was brilliant at shifting through different subtle expressions in each shot that conveyed different bits of information we needed to digest. I was also impressed by how he conveyed his character’s underlying insecurity which added another layer to an already masterful performance. This might be the best performance of his career, and if you were still questioning whether or not he is one of the best actors of this generation, well you now have your answer. As for his chances at Best Actor, I still think it is Will Smith’s to lose for his performance in King Richard (see my full review here), but if anybody can steal it from him, it has got to be Cumberbatch.

The second best performance undeniably belonged to Kodi Smit-McPhee. Similar to Campion, he is certainly not a household name as he is just 25 years old, but in my opinion, he will be a household name very soon. He is just excellent and he plays a huge part in this film, especially in the second half, and he just knocks it out of the park. Throughout the film, you come to find that his character really has his cards against his chest, and you can see his character start becoming more pivotal to the overall story, and that just made his performance all the more impressive to me. I would say that it’s a lock that he gets nominated for Best Supporting Actor, and although I would love to see Troy Kotsur win for his performance in CODA (see my full review here), I won’t be mad to see Smit-McPhee win because he is ridiculously good in this.

Two more performances that need to be brought up belong to the married couple that is Jesse Plemons and Kirsten Dunst. Plemons is one of my favorites and he has already had himself quite a busy 2021 with Antlers and Jungle Cruise, but this is definitely his best performance of the year. Plemons is great at never overplaying his characters, so I unfortunately don’t see him getting nominated, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that he played his role of the softer and more non-confrontational brother to Benedict Cumberbatch exceptionally well. As for Dunst, she on the other hand is very likely to be getting nominated. I loved what she was doing with her character as she was extremely passive at times, and I just thought she did a great job at expressing how much weight and pain her character is carrying with her throughout the film. She was just super believable and it was extremely easy to tell how uncomfortable her character felt at times with how well she portrayed her.

If there was one award that I had the most faith in The Power of the Dog winning, it would have to be Best Cinematography. The cinematography here is absolutely beautiful. It was shot by cinematographer Ari Wegner, and his depiction of the west is remarkable and it actually reminded me a lot of another drama film that takes place in the west that is a perfect film in my eyes, and that would be Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2007 film There Will Be Blood. The cinematography in every scene was extremely calculated and I loved how all of the shots they chose played a role in conveying the power dynamic between all the four major players. That, and every other decision made when it came to the look of this film went a long way in making things taking place in the film feel more intense. Every choice made from behind the camera was brilliant yet subtle, and it just fit Campion’s style. I would love for this to win Best Cinematography as it is unquestionably one of the most beautiful films of the year.

I kid you not, what was just as good, if not better than the cinematography was the score that was composed by Jonny Greenwood. The film’s score throughout the entire film just carried a haunting tone that makes you feel uneasy from start to finish. Its score just has everything from the ominous sounds of plucky guitars, to the piano, to even whistling, and it is easily one of the best scores of the year. It will undoubtedly get nominated for Best Original Score. Greenwood also scored Spencer (see my full review here), which I predicted will also get nominated, so Greenwood will likely be getting double nominated for his incredible work on both projects.

I did watch this film twice as it is just one of those movies that warrants a second viewing, and it got better on the rewatch. I wasn’t sure what the core of the film was on the first viewing, but for the second watch I was just more on the wavelength and I was absorbing details that I didn’t notice before. It was definitely clear that this is from a more dense novel, but Campion’s screenplay did the book justice in my eyes. You can lock in a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination for Campion along with her directing nomination, because she really brought the book to life in the most impressive way. This movie just really connected with me. I gained more of an appreciation for it on the second watch and I think I could even like it more on a third watch. In conclusion, I would absolutely love to see this film win Best Picture. It won’t be easy, but it definitely has a very good chance as it checks every box in not only my eyes, but clearly others’ as it is collecting tons of nominations from other awards outlets.

THE BAD

I won’t lie, I loved this film. I watched it twice and there is no glaring flaw I feel I need to mention. What I will say though is that this movie fits the description of a “slow burn” perfectly. The film has a ton of symbolism being conveyed throughout which might have people struggling with upon their first watch. It definitely is a challenge to try and cram in a lot of this symbolism and subtext into just a 2 hour movie, but it paid off on my end and Campion did a really good job.

Also, the demographic this film is going for is true lovers of cinema. I just say that because if you are going into this expecting to get your typical Western drama film filled with cool action scenes with everybody slinging guns while riding horses, you will be sorely mistaken.

THE VERDICT

Jane Campion is back with The Power of the Dog, her first film since 2009, and let me just say, she came back with a bang as I think this just might be her masterpiece. Her direction in this film is magnificent and her adapted screenplay she wrote is also superb. It is aided by Benedict Cumberbatch’s imposing performance that will surely earn him a Best Actor nomination as he both frightens and stuns you. It also features three impressive supporting performances that are all Oscar-worthy from Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, and Kodi Smit-McPhee, who I actually thought was the best of the bunch. More than that, its cinematography is on another level and Greenwood’s score is just so damn good.

There is no questioning why this is the huge awards contender that it is as it is a brilliant and powerful deconstruction of the American West, but I don’t doubt that this film will challenge audiences as it is deeply complex. As much as I think it might challenge viewers, I also think it will enthrall viewers as it did me, and I strongly believe time will be on this film’s side.

All in all, I would love nothing more than to see The Power of the Dog be crowned the next Best Picture winner and I really think it is going to happen.