Killers Of The Flower Moon Movie Review: A significant entry in Scorsese’s highly decorated filmography

When Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) moves to an oil-rich Osage Nation in the 1920s, looking to make a living after the war, little does he know what awaits him.Trust the man who riled up a whole generation of fans with his commentary on what cinema isn’t, to show us how impactful it can be by flipping the script on whitewashed history. Based on the book of the same name, Martin Scorsese adapts this screenplay with Eric Roth to bring an essential yet little-known true and tragic story of Native American history to the big screen. The runtime of three and a half hours does sound daunting, but not a minute is wasted throughout the film, as the screenplay is honed down to each beat. Scorsese gradually builds on various pieces of this intricate tale, and if a filmmaker is to be judged by how they end their movies, then that’s where he truly delivers.Underlying the complexities of human emotion, especially greed and deception, that the director deploys to keep us engaged, the most surprisingly effective one is ‘love’, or rather how it can blind those afflicted by it. Leonardo DiCaprio’s Ernest Burkhart is critical to that narrative; he meets and falls head over heels with Lily Gladstone’s Mollie. Ernest makes no bones about his intent, and despite being no pushover, Mollie can’t resist his charms. But the extent of Ernest’s aims is determined by his uncle William Hale, otherwise known as King, played by Robert De Niro. These three form the key players, and each respective actor deserves all the accolades inevitably coming their way. Scorsese arguably brings out the best in De Niro, so seeing the veteran actor back in form is excellent. Then again, so does the director with DiCaprio, and to say this probably could be the latter’s most layered work wouldn’t be an understatement. However, the most impressive is Lily Gladstone, who is a devastating force amidst DiCaprio and De Niro in a career-making performance.Be prepared for ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ to have a strong presence during awards season because all the vital ingredients are in place, not just for Oscar bait. Scorsese maintains a critical balance between storytelling and technical elements, such as the unmissable and uneasy score by Robbie Robertson. Whether the lengthy runtime is justified is debatable, but what isn’t is Scorsese’s vision and memorable execution of a complex, heart-breaking tale of lies and deception.