Why "Killers of the Flower Moon" Deserves Best Film at the 2024 Oscars

It may not be the "Best Film" shoo-in, but it is far and away the best cinematic feat of the year.

For months, I’ve watched the film tile for Killers of the Flower Moon (based on The NYT bestselling novel by David Grann) appear on my Apple TV+ carousel and proudly swiped right, but not in the dating app sense of the action where it means “accept.” No, at 3.5 hours, as much of a 20th Century U.S. history buff I consider myself, I could not and would not sign up for such a long, and unnecessarily drawn out film. I would not do another Oppenheimer.

What was Marty Scorsese thinking? That we all signed up to watch another Irishman?

Plus, if I’m honest, apart from Lily Gladstone’s presence, as seen in movie posters and through the awards she’s been racking up for her portrayal of an Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, who is slowly being killed by her husband, Ernest, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, so he can obtain her land, I wasn’t even sure that this very testosterone-heavy film was going to do it for me. Would it pass the Bechdel test?

But then I saw DeNiro, DiCaprio, Gladstone, Plemons, Frazer, and Lithgow and I ate my words, because Scorsese is really brilliant and he deserves pretty much every award he is up for while he’s making films of such a high caliber. But then again, would it hurt him to have a film which features more women?

So here are all the reasons I was wrong, so wrong about this film and even more so than Elizabeth Bennet in Pride & Prejudice (the Keira Knightly/Tom Wambsgans actor version) when she realizes that it was a mix of both pride and prejudice that led to her misjudgments, I humbly apologize for my bias but not my caution.

Leonardo DiCaprio is the GOAT of our Generation

Gen Xers, face it. Leonardo DiCaprio just gets better as an actor as he ages and to be clear, he’s always been good. His chemistry and his years of experience working with DeNiro (and under Scorsese, too) have resulted in a culmination here that I don’t think can be bettered.

DeNiro, who has been nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar, does the evil gangster role well, so I didn’t feel like this was a stretch, but he’s solid here. With DiCaprio, who I’m going on record to say was snubbed for Best Actor, it was a much more layered role in which I was constantly second guessing his depths of duplicity. He had to play a loving husband, which in parts, he was, while at the same time doing incredibly cruel acts intended to harm and sabotage the Osage people, and notably, his wife’s family.

I first watched DeNiro and DiCaprio in This Boy's Life based on Tobias Wolff’s memoir about growing up with his abusive stepdad. It was a hard watch, but DeNiro was so skilled in his portrayal of Dwight at setting up the dynamic of a seemingly charismatic and friendly father figure to DiCaprio’s Toby who was anything but. Similarly in this film, DeNiro as William Hale, Ernest’s uncle, is a father stand-in and manipulates Ernest to do his bidding. Without a William “King” Hale, perhaps there never would have been an evil Ernest.

Also, random fact but DeNiro is 80-years-old. I would never have guessed. Is 80 the new 50? Only in Hollywood…

Martha Stewart is 82. Facts.

Lily Gladstone is Powerful

Quiet, understated, strong, intentional, loyal and steady are words I’d use to describe the Mollie Burkhart character and Gladstone’s depiction of her. My disbelief came in her unwavering support of her husband as being someone she could trust, despite all signs to the contrary, or perhaps it’s that their love, which seemed genuine, was enough for her to believe in and to be sustained by. My favorite moment between the two happens near the beginning of their relationship when there’s a rainstorm outside and Ernest goes to close the window. Mollie implores him to keep it open, to sit in silence next to her and to look out the window, effectively letting the storm be the loudest presence in the room. There’s a respect for nature she’s conveying in this simple action and it’s a powerful scene which leads the viewer to think that maybe their love will be enough - if he can listen and learn from a more positive influence.

The Story is So Compelling

Sure, the making of the atomic bomb is not without its appeal - the Red Scare, the Manhattan Project, McCarthy era witch hunts, WW2. Christopher Nolan captures all of this in a cohesive way, but I also walked away from the film feeling like parts of it could have been cut from the first half.

Then there’s this movie with a very long run time that I felt could have easily been 3 episodes in a limited series and worked just as well. Either way, the story of the crimes committed against the Osage people and the insidious levels of betrayal are one that needs to be heard and respected. If, like me, you want to know more, consider getting the book on Audible.