The Power of the Dog leaves a mark

Movie review: The Power of the Dog

Jesse Plemons and Benedict Cumberbatch flirt with a cowboy take on Cain and Abel in Jane Campion’s dusty, and decidedly lusty, moral fable

New on Netflix

Power of the Dog (new on Netflix/ select theatrical) – Remember Jane Campion’s grand eclat called The Piano back in 1993? It hit some heavy chords with bloody stumps. The movie was as beautiful as it was horrific, and The Power of the Dog is probably the closest Campion has come to matching the throbbing genius of her breakout feature.

Based on the 1967 novel by Tom Savage, in addition to the Bible verse Psalm 22:20, The Power of the Dog focuses on two brothers trying to make a life for themselves as ranchers in 1920s Montana. They are the sons of city folk with money, so their life on the ranch has been one that demanded a hands-on education. And they got it, thanks to a cowboy who we only as a ghost named Bronco Henry — and he haunts the whole film via Benedict Cumberbatch.

Deliver my soul from the sword; My darling from the power of the dog. – Psalm 22:20 (KJV)

Cumberbatch dons some hefty chaps as a decidedly nasty older brother named Phil — a cunning, musical and muscular strong man whose central scene involves the graphic castration of the bulls. Phil likes to dominate everything around him, especially his little brother George (Jesse Plemons).

George is gentle and kind but not as bright as Phil — so when he falls for the local widow (Kristen Dunst) and brings her home as his wife, Phil is irritated and increasingly passive aggressive. He sets his sights on Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee), the young son of Rose, looking to mold him the same way Bronco Henry molded him. Peter is kind, smart and introverted, so when Phil takes him out into the open ranchlands, we fear for him. And we should. And if you remember how emotionally violent the Piano felt — without graphic bloodshed — then you’ll bewell prepared for the death chill of The Power of the Dog.

THE EX-PRESS

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