The mere mention of a Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio team-up is enough to excite most film enthusiasts, and the pair behind The Aviator, The Departed, and The Wolf of Wall Street are back together again for their seventh collaboration. The 3.5-hour epic (a runtime the filmmaker has defended), Killers of the Flower Moon has finally been screened, and the early buzz for the book-to-screen adaptation of David Grann's gripping non-fiction book makes us more excited than ever.
Killers of the Flower Moon delves into the chilling true story of the Osage Nation murders, where a series of mysterious deaths shook the community in the 1920s. The movie’s stellar cast and crew have done a spectacular job bringing this tale of conspiracy, greed, and vengeance to the big screen. With Martin Scorsese at the helm, audiences can expect nothing short of a cinematic masterpiece. Since Killers of the Flower Moon premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, critics have given the film glowing reviews. So, just how good is the movie? Let’s see what the critics have to say.
In CinemaBlend’s review of The Killers of the Flower Moon, Eric Eisenberg rates it a perfect 5 stars out of 5, saying it’s more than just a great film, but a “vital film” coming at just the right time:
More than just a great film, Killers Of The Flower Moon is a vital film coming at an important time. There is a shocking reluctance among some people in America to properly recognize and reconcile with atrocities committed in our nation’s history, and after Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, this is the second major release of the year to provide bold confrontation with that kind of subject matter. It’s powerful and unforgettable big screen storytelling from one of the greatest geniuses to ever touch a camera, and when we look back on 2023 at the end of December, there’s a strong likelihood that Martin Scorsese’s latest will be viewed as the best movie of the year.
Bob Mondello of NPR shares our enthusiasm for the film, hailing it as a "masterful" and "monstrous" exploration of greed. In his insightful analysis, he singles out De Niro's captivating portrayal of the villain. Mondello's words capture the essence of the film:
Martin Scorsese has fashioned a monstrous tale of greed abetted by stupidity and enabled by entrenched prejudice. De Niro is a coiled snake, fluent in the Osage language, ostentatiously charitable at funerals, but ever on the lookout for chances to strike. DiCaprio's Ernest is his subservient coyote. Whether facilitating murder...
The chief film critic of the New York Times, Manohla Dargis, doesn’t mince words, calling the film an “unsettling masterpiece.” According to Dargis, the flick is a genre blend that will leave you guessing until the last frame. The critic wrote:
The movie is at once a romance, a western, a domestic drama, a whodunit and, finally, a police procedural — that effortlessly mix, ebb and flow. It’s an energetic and unexpected amalgam, but partly because Scorsese uses genre to his ends rather than conforming to its conventions, the overall effect can be destabilizing: He’s not boxed in by obvious narrative cues, and neither are you.
Jocelyn Noveck from the AP praised the actors, especially Lily Gladstone, alongside DiCaprio and De Niro. Despite a 3.5-hour runtime, the compelling storytelling left the audience craving more in this weighty tale of American history and true crime, wrapped in a tense love story:
It may also not surprise anyone that Scorsese has taken three and a half hours (albeit three minutes less than The Irishman) to tell his tale. This may be a source of debate, but it’s hard to argue that a story this hefty — a chronicle of a dark chapter in American history and a shocking true crime tale, all framed in a fraught love story — doesn’t deserve the length, considering the craft in every shot.
Of course, not everyone was upbeat about the movie. While he loved Lily Gladstone's performance, calling her "the real star," CNN's Brian Lowry criticizes the film, asserting that the director's attempt at an "epic" ultimately results in nothing more than an overly lengthy production. Lowry attributes this prolonged runtime to the growing demand for content by streaming platforms. He points out:
In this case, it’s Apple TV+, after Netflix let the veteran director run free in the editing room with The Irishman. The result turns out to be similar in its weaknesses and less pronounced in its strengths, yielding a stark, even bleak, look at the wanton murder of Native Americans to obtain their oil money a century ago, while local authorities turned a blind eye.
Although the film's runtime has sparked debate, critics are primarily enthusiastic about Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon. If a theater experience isn't your preference, you can wait for its streaming release with an Apple TV+ subscription. However, if you are looking to see this epic in theaters, you can go see DiCaprio and co. on the big screen right now.
Check out our upcoming movie schedule to see what else is coming to a theater near you.
