The Power of the Dog

Brothers "Phil" (Benedict Cumberbatch) and "George" (Jesse Plemons) are the bit chalk-and-cheese brothers who own a successful cattle ranch. On a trip to town, "Phil" upsets the owner of the hotel "Rose" (an effective Kirstin Dunst) after he rather cruelly insults her extremely svelte teenage son "Peter" (Kodi Smit-McPhee) who had taken some care to prepare intricate paper decorations for their dining table. We don't know how long "George" and "Rose" have been friends, but next thing we know they are married and the pretty unpleasant "Phil" sets out to make her life as miserable as possible. He is never overtly cruel - there is no violence, but mental abuse that sends her seeking solace in the bottle. When her son joins them from school, he fixes him fairly and squarely in his sights too - introducing a hint of homo-eroticism and scheming to the last fifteen minutes that makes you sit up. Again, no action as such - there are no gunfights or fisticuffs, just a cleverly structured denouement that I felt fitting. The pace is really slow, the dialogue pretty laconic, Cumberbatch's accent is all over the place and the score becomes wearisome after a while - the sounds of the constant high pitched violins really did begin to grate. It is a lovely film to look at, plenty of attention to the detail, but it is altogether just a bit so what.