The Power of the Dog
Writer-director Jane Campion's THE POWER OF THE DOG, based on Thomas Savage's 1967 novel, follows the story of two wildly different middle-aged brothers running their family's prosperous ranch in 1920s Montana. Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch) is a charismatic cowboy who manages the ranch hands and has a razor-sharp whit and cruel nature. Little brother George (Jessie Plemons) is kind and more refined but also bland and lonely. They still sleep in the room they shared as boys -- until they take a trip to another Montana town, where they meet Rose (Kirsten Dunst), a beautiful young widow and small boardinghouse owner whose teen son, Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee), is a sensitive social outcast. Phil maliciously bullies Peter, and the situation gets worse when George unexpectedly marries Rose and brings her home to the family ranch. Phil humiliates and ridicules Rose and refers to Peter as "Miss Nancy." Once Peter joins them at the ranch during a boarding school break, the dynamic shifts to another gear in psychological terror and manipulation.
Starring
Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons
Director
Jane Campion