Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
A domineering but charismatic rancher wages a war of intimidation on his brother's new wife and her teen son, until long-hidden secrets come to light.
Jane Campion's The Power of the Dog is a masterclass in psychological tension and slow-burn dread. The plot is intricately layered, peeling back the complexity of Phil Burbank's character with devastating precision—Benedict Cumberbatch delivers a career-best performance, supported by an equally strong ensemble. Cinematography by Ari Wegner transforms the New Zealand-shot Montana landscape into something mythic and oppressive. The film is distinctively singular in tone and conception, blending revisionist Western with queer psychodrama in a way that feels entirely its own. The ending, while thematically rich and retroactively recontextualizing everything, lands with a quiet ambiguity that some find unsatisfying or abrupt—making it the one category where the film falls slightly short of its otherwise exceptional standard.