Tropic Sprockets / The Power of the Dog

By Ian Brockway

From Jane Campion (The Piano), “The Power of the Dog” is a character study and a power struggle of one-upmanship that is both poignant and terrifying. With majestic cinematography and an evocative musical score reminiscent of Victor Young (Shane) and Colin Stetson (Hereditary), this film borrows from several genres making it a unique and singular experience, both harrowing and heartfelt.

Rancher Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch) lives with his mild mannered brother George (Jesse Plemons). Phil calls him Fatso and does not respect his brother. The pair run a cattle ranch and share a magnificent, but brooding, house in the Montana plains. But George develops feelings for a grieving widow, Rose (Kirsten Dunst). When George and Rose marry and move into the ranch house, Phil seethes with anger. He can’t stand Rose. Worse, he horribly teases and belittles Rose’s delicate son Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee), employing hateful insults and destroying Peter’s artwork. Rose internalizes Phil’s hatred and poison to the point of getting physically sick when Phil is present in the room.

Phil is the scariest person in a Western since Jack Wilson in “Shane.” The sound of his boots on the hardwood floor will give you goosebumps. With Phil’s hardened cement face, Cumberbatch does resemble Jack Palance in the George Stevens classic. Add a bit of Frank Booth (Blue Velvet), too, for good measure since Phil seems to have a fetish for soft material. He gets aroused by a handkerchief that been tucked inside his jeans like underwear. 

Peter for his part resembles Norman Bates from “Psycho,” if only a smidge. Instead of birds, Peter is fascinated by rabbits and he takes them apart. He also cozies up to his mother and has a nervous tic. The teeth of a black comb are transformed into a horror film harpsichord and we are almost in the setting of an Ari Aster film. But overall, the film’s sweep of landscape combined with its pathos of envy and resentment (not to mention the dark wooden house), recalls yet another masterpiece from George Stevens, “Giant.”

Things are not as they seem. This is a film where even a braided lasso and a leather saddle inspire both mystery and fear. Benedict Cumberbatch has never been better. This is without a doubt, the actor’s best and most diverse performance yet.

Add to this a narrative that moves from a constrictive sense of foreboding, to fear, to poignance and then to something outright eerie, and you have a film that appropriates but is its own entity. 

“The Power of the Dog” is rich, thorough in detail and provocative. It will keep you guessing as well as entertain. 

Write Ian at [email protected]

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