Film Review: The Power of the Dog

Director: Jane Campion
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons
Running time: 126 minutes

Adapted from the 1967 Thomas Savage novel of the same name, Jane Campion’s The Power of The Dog chronicles the unbelievably complex and often volatile dynamic between the Burbank brothers, Phil and George, a wealthy pair of cattle ranchers presiding on a Montana farm. The year is 1925 and the pedestals of machismo that Phil Burbank emulates have long since melted into the dusty plains. But the gauntlet of toxic masculinity laid out by the “cowboy” way of life has all but eroded the soul of Phil, leaving a domineering, possessive brute humanised by a performance that will no doubt shower Benedict Cumberbatch with accolades.

Begrudgingly tethered to Phil is the somewhat mild-mannered and understated George Burbank, who seems to be the brains of the operation when it comes to running the farm. Despite his business acumen, George is often found with his tail between his legs when subjugated to Phil’s barrage of assorted methods of emasculation. 

Things change when George becomes romantically involved with a woman in one of the neighbouring homesteads, Rose Gordon (Kirsten Dunst) – but whether or not it’s for the better is debatable. Rose is thrust into the domestic pressure cooker when the couple decide to wed and settle on the Burbank’s farm. Her teenage son Peter adds to the dysfunctionality when he visits during a school break. You could say the gangly, uncoordinated glass of water is the antithesis to Phil. Smelling blood and charged with a weird, almost childlike sense of jealousy, Phil makes it his crusade to make their lives on the ranch as uncomfortable as possible.

Campion’s direction is as humanist, subtle and as textured as ever. She brilliantly captures the aridity, brutality and the isolating nature of the landscape; she lulls us into a false sense of suspicion by thinking that this is going to be another epic melodrama. Instead, the narrative creeps from a caustic psychological thriller to a cringe-inducing black comedy, then over to coming-of-age and an uncanny romance again. Campion's inability to commit will probably frustrate some viewers, and it’s no surprise that this is a Netflix original – it’d be a nightmare for a studio to market.

Johnny Greenwood’s score bleeds throughout the film with unsettling paranoia, ensuring each dynamic growls psychological, erotic and comedic tension, proving again that he is one of the best film composers working today. Greenwood gives voice to the ghosts of the Wild West that haunt the sacred landscape. 

The Power of The Dog is very much an ensemble piece and it’s clear to see every actor is relishing the chance to play characters trapped by expectation and haunted by the ghosts of their past. Cumberbatch’s casting is a masterstroke – his rugged, unbathed handsomeness and moments of seething rage and adolescent vulnerability shoot down our gentile notions of him as a star. Initially I was sceptical about his ability to sell it as a cowboy, but eventually that feeling of disorientation fed into the repressed nature of the character itself. He chews the scenery as if it were tobacco – even when he’s off-screen, he hangs over the other characters like a black cloud waiting to burst over the plains. From the very start however, he cuts a tragic figure when we first get a glimpse of him through the frame of a dusty window. Campion's obvious reference to John Ford’s The Searchers gives the impression that Phil himself is nothing but a homage with a thousand-yard stare, calcified in the muck of his idols.

The Power of the Dog marks a triumphant return to the silver screen after twelve years for Jane Campion as she delivers one of the best films of the year. Its bite can be felt long after the credits roll; I still find myself ruminating on a story that gets under the skin and is very reluctant to come out. 

Did you know? Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons are engaged in real-life. Dunst told Collider: “I grabbed his arm in one scene and was told that was too familiar. I had to remind myself this is not my [real-life] husband.” The two previously worked together in the TV adaptation of Fargo.

The Power of the Dog is on Netflix from Wednesday 1 December