Martin Scorsese’s 2023 western true crime thriller, Killers of the Flower Moon, is based on the 2017 book of the same name by David Grann. Co-written with Eric Roth, this crime drama focuses on a series of murders of members from the Osage nation in 1920s Oklahoma. The film echoes what all westerns are about: the brutal grab for power, land and resources.
The cast is an ensemble of Hollywood names, with Leonardo DiCaprio’s performance as Ernest Burkhart taking centre stage. Lily Gladstone who plays Mollie Kyle, Ernest’s wife, and Robert DeNiro who plays William King Hale, Ernest’s uncle, also deliver stand out performances.
DiCaprio and DeNiro fuel each other’s performances and Gladstone’s portrayal of Mollie is grounded and sincere, never straying too far into melodrama. As with any Scorsese film, the cinematography and score act as main characters in themselves, providing tension and momentum to a historical story.
The Osage nation are native American’s who have unexpectedly become wealthy due to the land they have settled on containing huge oil reserves. Despite their wealth, the Osage members are subjected to issues of racism and guardianship: the only way they can claim their money is by having a white co-signatory.
Killers of the Flower Moon follows the story of Ernest, a greedy, ambitious but also submissive man who has just returned from the war to stay and work with his uncle, William King Hale. Ernest becomes a driver for the wealthy Osage and starts to form a relationship with Mollie Kyle. The two marry, giving Ernest (and Hale) a legal right to claim on Mollie’s ‘head rights’ (her oil entitlements).
A trail of death follows the couple as members of Mollie’s family and other members of the Osage nation wind up dead. Mollie also finds herself on deaths door as she discovers she has diabetes.
As the situation escalates, federal bureau investigators are sent in form Washington DC to find out who is behind all the murders.
Ernest, Mollie and Hale are at the centre of Scorsese and Roth’s script, but the historical drama is littered with lots of other memorable characters such as BOI agent Tom White, played by Jesse Plemons.
With an epic run time of 206 minutes, Scorsese’s latest follows on from his earlier works with a focus corrupt, violent men who are hungry for power and notoriety. A story of murder, manipulation and survival that is heartbreakingly remarkable and totally Scorsese.
