One of the best films I’ve seen this year is writer-director Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog. Loaded with fantastic performances (especially Benedict Cumberbatch), an amazing score by Jonny Greenwood, beautiful cinematography by Ari Wegner, and brilliantly helmed by Campion, I can’t recommend this film enough – especially if you like slow-burn stories.
If you’re not familiar with The Power of the Dog, it’s based on the 1967 cult novel by Thomas Savage, and takes place at a Montana cattle ranch in 1925. The film follows Phil and George (Cumberbatch and Jesse Plemons), two wealthy Montana ranchers whose brotherly bond is tested when George marries the widowed Rose (Kirsten Dunst). Rose and her son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) move in with the brothers, and while George and Rose are happy together, Phil begins to emotionally torment Rose, driving her to drink, and causing issues in the home. At the same time, Phil is kind and supportive of Rose’s son, encouraging him to ride a horse and take on the rough terrain, leading to further emotional strain on Rose and problems in the home. The Power of the Dog also stars Thomasin McKenzie, Frances Conroy, Keith Carradine, Peter Carroll, and Adam Beach.
While it might sound like something you’ve seen before, it isn’t. So much of this film is simmering below the surface and Campion’s has crafted something really special with her latest film.
Shortly after watching the film, I got to speak to Benedict Cumberbatch. He talked about how the film doesn’t tell you what to think, the slow-burn nature and how it rewards repeat viewings, how Campion gave him the freedom to be Phil on set in between takes, what was it like reading the script for the first time, how the film talks about toxic masculinity, and more.
Watch what he had to say in the player above and below is exactly what we talked about followed by the official synopsis.
Benedict Cumberbatch
Has he seen the video where someone took his whistle in the trailer and made it lead into Jurassic Park with him reacting to the dinosaurs?
How the film has limited exposition so what was it like reading the script for the first time?
On how it’s a slow burn and it rewards repeat viewing.
How the film talks about toxic masculinity and doesn’t tell you what to think.
How tough was it to leave the character on set especially when he went all in on playing this role?
How Jane Campion gave him the freedom to be Phil on set when he’s so unlike his character.
Here's the official synopsis:
Severe, pale-eyed, handsome, Phil Burbank is brutally beguiling. All of Phil’s romance, power and fragility is trapped in the past and in the land: He can castrate a bull calf with two swift slashes of his knife; he swims naked in the river, smearing his body with mud. He is a cowboy as raw as his hides.
The year is 1925. The Burbank brothers are wealthy ranchers in Montana. At the Red Mill restaurant on their way to market, the brothers meet Rose, the widowed proprietress, and her impressionable son Peter. Phil behaves so cruelly he drives them both to tears, reveling in their hurt and rousing his fellow cowhands to laughter – all except his brother George, who comforts Rose then returns to marry her.
As Phil swings between fury and cunning, his taunting of Rose takes an eerie form – he hovers at the edges of her vision, whistling a tune she can no longer play. His mockery of her son is more overt, amplified by the cheering of Phil’s cowhand disciples. Then Phil appears to take the boy under his wing. Is this latest gesture a softening that leaves Phil exposed, or a plot twisting further into menace?
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