Martin Scorsese has made plenty of crime sagas in his time, but Killers Of The Flower Moon will be his first Western crime saga. The story, which is based upon David Grann’s bestselling narrative nonfiction book of the same name, follows the Osage community in the 1920s. They had grown extremely wealthy due to their oil windfall after being relegated to seemingly undesirable land. That status attracted predators, and a string of murders followed.
The film debuted this year in Cannes to critical accolades, and since that May premiere, fans have been impatiently waiting for this event to hit theaters. Let’s talk about what to expect from Killers Of The Flower Moon.
Plot
Expect to see significant differences from structure of the book, which carried a subtitle, The Osage Murders And The Birth Of The FBI, and placed a hefty focus upon Agent Tom White, who was the lead agency investigator on this case under former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover.
The film (which is already over three hours long) doesn’t invest as much time on White, who was originally going to be played by Leonardo DiCaprio until Scorsese shifted plans (as Deadline detailed earlier this year), and “started over, seizing on the chance to tell a story that would resonate in a modern era.” In the film’s final incarnation, Jesse Plemons portrays White with DiCaprio shifting into the shoes of shifty Ernest Burkhart.
Lily Gladstone portrays the indomitable Mollie Burkhart, and the film gestated for years (even shooting through the pandemic) before the world finally got a glimpse beyond this now-infamous still:
Grann, while recently speaking to us about his latest book, The Wager, revealed his experience on the Oklahoma set.
“I was really struck by the level of care, both in developing the story and the level of research,” Grann explained. “The production team would often ask me questions about the research, but they did their own as well. They filmed on location, which was really important, and most important of all, they worked very closely with members of the Osage nation to tell the story in a faithful and sensitive way. Chief Standing Bear appointed several ambassadors of the nation to work with the movie people, and so many Osage were involved in the process…. I saw a very powerful scene when I visited. Several Osage were playing the roles and were astonishingly good.”
The film is preceded by the following synopsis:
At the turn of the 20th century, oil brought a fortune to the Osage Nation, who became some of the richest people in the world overnight. The wealth of these Native Americans immediately attracted white interlopers, who manipulated, extorted, and stole as much Osage money as they could before resorting to murder. Based on a true story and told through the improbable romance of Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Mollie Kyle (Lily Gladstone), Killers of the Flower Moon is an epic western crime saga, where real love crosses paths with unspeakable betrayal.
Cast
In addition to DiCaprio and Gladstone, Killers Of The Flower Moon also stars Robert De Niro, Jesse Plemons, Brendan Fraser, John Lithgow, Cara Jade Myers, JaNae Collins, Tantoo Cardinal, and Jillian Dion.
Release Date
As with Grann’s The Wager, this shall be an Apple TV+ film that debuts in theaters on October 20 and later streams at the source.
Trailers
You want a real trailer? Here’s two masterful examples.