Paramount Pictures “Killers of the Flower Moon” hit theaters on October 20th, 2023. The film hit theatres with much hype due to its star-studded cast of Leonardo Di Caprio, Robert De Niro, and legendary director Martin Scorsese. The movie is based on the critically acclaimed book “ Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and Birth of the FBI.”
Leading up to the release, rumors started swirling of whether or not this is Scorsese’s final film. This noise was only amplified through cryptic quotes provided by Scorsese, such as when he stated “There’s no more time [to make more films].” Overall, these rumors only contributed to the pre-release hype of the film.
Like the book, the movie focuses on the Osage tribe in the 1920s, which at that time had received vast amounts of wealth due to oil reserves found on their land. The first few scenes flash the impeccable set design, opening on U.S. army veteran Ernest Burkhart (Di Caprio) going through the bustling Osage reservation towards his uncle William Hale’s ranch ( De Niro).
Hale is looking to enter the oil market and push the local Osage out. The focus on Hale and Burkhart’s story is one criticism of both the film and the book. Rather than focusing on the trauma and pain the murders caused the Osage community, the film and book focus on the story of various white characters.
Scorsese attempted to address these concerns and even rewrote the script to be slightly different from the book, citing the fact that the original script solely based on the book was “a movie about all white guys.”
While the promise of greater Osage representation is slightly fulfilled through Osage characters like Molly Burkhart (Lily Gladstone) receiving more screen time, this primarily comes through the perspective of her romance with Burkhart. There is an improvement from the book in terms of representation, but the film ultimately falls short. These shortcomings have caused the film to receiver criticism from the Native American community.
“Imagine the worst atrocities committed against your ancestors, then having to sit through a movie explicitly filled with them.” stated Native American actor Devery Jacobs. “ The only respite being 30 minutes long scenes of murderous white guys talking about/planning the killings.”
Another criticism of the film is the long run-time of 3 hours 26 minutes. The long run time is not noticeable for the first 2 acts, largely due to the initial part of the film focusing on the murder mystery aspect of what transpired. However, once the story shifts to the trials of Hale and Burkhart, the long run time becomes more noticeable and the film has trouble maintaining the audience’s attention.
Overall, “Killers of the Flower Moon” comes short in giving the story of the Osage murders true justice and fails to emotionally capture the audience into the story. With the hype the film received due its star-studded cast, the general feeling after watching it is a disappointment. I would give the film a rating of 2.5/5.
