Quartile rating: 8/10 · 1 rating
When oil is discovered in 1920s Oklahoma under Osage Nation land, the Osage people are murdered one by one—until the FBI steps in to unravel the mystery.
Scorsese's meticulous and devastating portrayal of the Osage murders is anchored by career-best work from De Niro and DiCaprio, and a revelatory Lily Gladstone. The cinematography is lush and mournful, perfectly evoking the Oklahoma landscape and the slow horror of systemic genocide. The plot, drawn from David Grann's book, is rich and morally complex — reframing the story around the perpetrators rather than the investigators is a bold structural choice. However, the film's length and somewhat diffuse final act, including the meta-theatrical radio play ending, divides audiences; while thematically resonant and genuinely unusual, it feels slightly unresolved dramatically. Novelty is solid but not exceptional — the 'true crime period drama' genre is well-trodden, and while Scorsese's execution elevates it, the basic framework is familiar.