The latest from world-class director Jane Campion (The Piano), The Power of the Dog paints a disturbing picture of toxic masculinity and repressed homosexuality in the American West. The Power of the Dog received 12 Oscar nominations and also garnered wide acclaim around the world, including the Best Director prize at Venice. 

Set in 1920s Montana and based on Thomas Savage’s 1967 eponymous novel, The Power of the Dog is a Western drama which stars Benedict Cumberbatch (Best Actor Oscar nominee) as Phil, a sadistic Montana rancher, who inspires fear and awe to all of those around him. His younger brother George (Best Supporting Actor nominee Jesse Plemons) is more sensitive, but they both run the ranch together in their own ways, while living in the main house as well.  

However, when George marries Rose (Best Supporting Actress nominee Kirsten Dunst), a local widow, while bringing her teenage son Paul (Best Supporting Actor nominee Kodi Smit-McPhee) to live with them, the family dynamics soon become very complicated in unexpected ways. Phil torments them, displaying an erratic capacity for violence. When Phil decides to mysteriously take care of Peter by becoming his mentor, we discover a story about Phil which shows the unpredictable range of the human condition.  

If We Picked the Oscars

Among its many laurels, The Power of the Dog could also have been nominated for Best Costume Design. As a revisionist Western, The Power of the Dog had to use the contrast of deep character dynamics against a sparse setting, so that the costumes told the story from character to character. The historical look at how Kristy Cameron (the costume designer) made her clothing choices helped to create a collision between the modern world of the 1920s and the iconic image of the West.

Programmed and written by FACETS Film Program Director, Charles Coleman.