Netflix’s The Power of the Dog is the streaming platform’s best original Western by far, but it subverts the genre to such an extreme degree that it can hardly be considered a true Western at all. Jane Campion’s first movie in 12 years was an immediate hit, and she was awarded the Oscar for Best Director, as it garnered 11 other nominations.
The Power of the Dog was a huge win for Netflix, and a meaningful step in the streaming service’s ongoing quest to prove itself as a legitimate producer of prestige movies. It remains one of the best Netflix movies ever made, vindicating the platform’s approach of generously backing leading filmmakers.
The Power Of The Dog Is A Psychological Thriller That Touches On Western Tropes
The Power of the Dog stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Jesse Plemons as two brothers who own a Montana ranch together in the 1920s. If Cumberbatch and Plemons don’t seem like two natural fits for the Western genre, this is entirely the point. The film is really an intense psychological thriller about how these two characters push each other to breaking point.
Cumberbatch plays Phil, a domineering, manipulative cowboy who idolizes a ᴅᴇᴀᴅ man and pines for a past that sounds like a fable. Plemons plays his brother George, a victim of Phil’s incessant bullying who aspires to live a civilized life, marrying an educated woman and hosting dinner parties for the governor and his wife.
When George marries Rose, Phil’s cruel mind games reach a new level. This is where The Power of the Dog reveals its true colors as a psychological thriller focused on an abusive family dynamic. Campion creates an unsettling atmosphere, which is countered by some sH๏τs of breathtaking beauty.
Like all great psychological thrillers, The Power of the Dog‘s ending is hard to forget. The twist represents the grim finale of Phil’s campaign of abuse, and it reframes the entire narrative. The Power of the Dog is a different movie the second time round, as the action takes on a new meaning.
The Power Of The Dog Is The Perfect Example Of A Modern Revisionist Western
The Power of the Dog is based on a novel by Thomas Savage. While the bones of the story could support a thriller in any time period, there are good reasons why Savage sets his book in Montana in 1925. This allows The Power of the Dog to interrogate the tropes and unspoken conventions of classic Westerns, which is something Campion is keenly aware of.
The Power of the Dog was written in the 1960s, but it’s a great example of a modern revisionist Western. It subverts archetypes like the stoic cowboy, probing deeper into themes like gender and Sєxuality than most Westerns would ever dare to attempt. Campion uses the aesthetic of a Western to highlight the genre’s traditional shortfalls.
Cumberbatch’s casting is one way that The Power of the Dog defies the Western formula. At first, he seems like he’s performing a caricature of a rough-hewn cowboy. Only later on does it become apparent that this sums up Phil’s repressed Sєxuality and masculine posturing. Cumberbatch is actually perfectly cast, since he draws focus to the Western genre’s quirks.
