The Power of the Dog (2021)

Nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor (x2), Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Production Design, Best Sound, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Score      So this is the odds-on favorite.  You may have heard of it, you may not have.  Maybe you only know it from a Jimmy Kimmel monologue.  Here's what Jimmy Kimmel seems to have forgotten (which is odd, considering he hosted the Oscars twice):  the Oscars exist for one purpose and it is not to crown the most popular picture of the year.  That's what the box office does.  It's to recognize films, actors, and crew that may have otherwise gone unnoticed.  It is an award given by peers.  Do they get it wrong?  Frequently.  There's a long history of the Academy snubbing films for being "too genre".  Somebody on Twitter was saying that if the Academy ever really looked at horror films in competition, they would dominate the Visual Effects category every year and they are not wrong.  Being under-seen does not make The Power of the Dog a bad movie.  It is worthy of its nominations in every category.  

Now, did I like it?  No.  But that still doesn't make it a bad movie.  Content warning:  animal death, animal abuse

George Burbank (Jesse Plemons) has lived under the torment of his asshole brother, Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch), all his life.  They share a ranch, a house, and even a bedroom.  But when Phil casually mistreats the waiter (Kodi Smit-McPhee) at an inn on a cattle drive, causing the boy's mother (Kirsten Dunst) to cry, George makes a break.  He marries Rose and puts her son, Peter, into medical school.  Phil is furious, claiming that Rose is a gold digger, and makes a point of belittling and tormenting her at every turn.  When Peter comes to the ranch on a break from school, he finds his mother has become an alcoholic and nervous wreck.  Phil mocks Peter relentlessly until the boy discovers his secret.  

Okay, it gets kind of spoiler-y from here on out so I'm going to turn the text white and you can highlight it to read it if you want.  **SPOILERS**  At what point does it become a hate crime?  Like, Phil is 100% shown as closeted, lashing out at Peter until he thinks that Peter might also be gay/blackmail him.  And technically, Peter murders him for being an asshole, not for being gay, but ehhhhhhhh, I'm feeling like it could be a gray area.  Also, Peter should probably reconsider being a doctor with how quick he was to jump to murder as a solution.  Pretty sure that Hippocratic oath is like Day 1.  **END SPOILERS**

Just so you know, this is like the anti-Call Me by Your Name.  If I had known that going in, I might have enjoyed it more but it's presented as just a Western.  The cinematography is flawless and the acting is very good.  I didn't read the source material but the script was very tight, no wasted moments.  It's currently streaming on Netflix.