The review of Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) demands careful attention to one of the most ambitious and morally complex films of the decade. Martin Scorsese’s three-and-a-half-hour epic adaptation of David Grann’s bestselling nonfiction book chronicles the systematic murders of Osage Nation members in 1920s Oklahoma””a dark chapter in American history that remained largely obscured from public consciousness until recent years. This film marks Scorsese’s first collaboration with both Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro in the same project, a pairing that cinephiles have anticipated for decades. The significance of this film extends far beyond its star-studded cast and prestigious director. Killers of the Flower Moon addresses fundamental questions about American greed, institutional racism, and the ways in which history sanitizes atrocities committed against Indigenous peoples.
The Osage Nation, having been forced onto seemingly worthless land in Oklahoma, discovered vast oil reserves beneath their territory, making them per capita the wealthiest people in the world during the 1920s. What followed was a coordinated campaign of murder, manipulation, and theft that the film documents with unflinching detail. For viewers seeking to understand both the historical events and Scorsese’s artistic interpretation, this analysis provides comprehensive insight. By examining the film’s narrative structure, performances, technical achievements, and cultural significance, readers will gain a thorough understanding of why Killers of the Flower Moon stands as one of 2023’s most important cinematic releases. The film challenges audiences to confront uncomfortable truths about American history while simultaneously delivering a masterclass in filmmaking craft. Whether approaching this as a casual moviegoer or a dedicated film scholar, the layers of meaning embedded within Scorsese’s vision reward careful examination and repeated viewing.
Table of Contents
- What Makes Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) One of Scorsese’s Most Important Films?
- The Historical Foundation: Understanding the Osage Reign of Terror
- Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro: A Landmark Dual Performance
- Lily Gladstone’s Breakthrough as Mollie Burkhart
- Cinematography and Technical Craft in Killers of the Flower Moon
- Scorsese’s Narrative Choices and the Film’s Controversial Perspective
- How to Prepare
- How to Apply This
- Expert Tips
- Conclusion
- Frequently Asked Questions
What Makes Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) One of Scorsese’s Most Important Films?
Martin Scorsese’s filmography spans more than fifty years and includes undisputed masterpieces like Goodfellas, Taxi Driver, and Raging Bull. Yet Killers of the Flower Moon represents something distinct in his body of work””a film that turns his signature exploration of American criminality toward a subject with profound historical and moral weight. Unlike his Italian-American gangster films, which often invited audiences to find charisma in their antiheroes, this film demands a different kind of engagement. The crimes depicted here are not romanticized or stylized; they are presented as the systematic destruction of a people for financial gain. The film’s importance within Scorsese’s career also stems from its production history and personal significance to the director. At 80 years old during filming, Scorsese approached this project with the gravity of someone aware that each film could be his last major statement.
The production budget of approximately $200 million (financed largely by Apple Original Films) gave him resources to realize his vision without studio interference. Scorsese worked closely with Osage Nation representatives throughout production, consulting with Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear and hiring Osage citizens as consultants, extras, and crew members. This collaborative approach distinguishes the film from Hollywood’s typical treatment of Indigenous stories. The thematic connections to Scorsese’s earlier work are unmistakable yet transformed. The director has spent his career examining how capitalism and criminality intertwine in American life, from the mob hierarchies of Casino to the financial predation of The Wolf of Wall Street. Killers of the Flower Moon extends this examination to its logical historical conclusion, depicting a time when the murder of wealthy Indigenous people was essentially legal if orchestrated through the proper channels. The film argues that the violence was not aberrant but systemic””built into the legal structures that allowed white guardians to control Osage finances and profit from their deaths.
- Scorsese’s longest theatrical release at 206 minutes, reflecting the sprawling scope of the historical crimes
- First major studio film to center the Osage murders, which claimed an estimated 60 or more victims between 1918 and 1931
- Collaboration with cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto marks their fourth film together following Silence, The Irishman, and other projects
The Historical Foundation: Understanding the Osage Reign of Terror
Any comprehensive review of Killers of the Flower Moon requires understanding the historical events it depicts. The Osage Nation originally inhabited regions of present-day Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, and Oklahoma before being forcibly relocated to a reservation in northeastern Oklahoma during the 1870s. The land was considered undesirable by white settlers””rocky, difficult to farm, and seemingly worthless. This assessment proved catastrophically wrong when massive oil deposits were discovered beneath the Osage territory in the early 1900s. The Osage retained mineral rights to their land, receiving royalties from oil production through a system of “headrights”””shares in the tribe’s mineral trust that could be inherited but not sold. By the 1920s, these headrights generated thousands of dollars per person annually, making Osage citizens extraordinarily wealthy.
Contemporary accounts describe Osage families owning multiple automobiles, employing white servants, and living in mansions. This wealth inversion””Indigenous people as the richest demographic in America””proved intolerable to the prevailing racial hierarchy. The federal government’s response to Osage prosperity was the guardianship system, which required many Osage citizens (deemed “incompetent” to manage their own finances) to have court-appointed white guardians control their money. This system created enormous financial incentives for intermarriage, fraud, and murder. White men who married Osage women could inherit their headrights; guardians could siphon funds through fraudulent expenses; and the elimination of multiple family members could concentrate headrights in the hands of a single heir””or their white spouse. The “Reign of Terror” that followed saw Osage people poisoned, shot, and blown up in their homes, with local authorities either complicit or deliberately negligent in investigating the deaths.
- An estimated 60 or more Osage were murdered during this period, though the actual number may be significantly higher due to deaths ruled as natural causes or accidents
- The newly formed FBI (then Bureau of Investigation) sent agent Tom White to investigate in 1925, marking one of the bureau’s first major homicide cases
- William Hale, a prominent rancher known as the “King of the Osage Hills,” was eventually convicted of orchestrating multiple murders
Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro: A Landmark Dual Performance
The casting of Leonardo DiCaprio as Ernest Burkhart and Robert De Niro as William Hale represents one of the most significant actor pairings in Scorsese’s career. DiCaprio and De Niro had never shared substantial screen time before this film, despite both serving as Scorsese’s primary leading men across different eras. Their performances in Killers of the Flower Moon complement each other through contrast””De Niro’s controlled malevolence against DiCaprio’s morally confused weakness. DiCaprio’s Ernest Burkhart is a departure from the charismatic, intelligent protagonists he typically portrays. Ernest is not bright, not particularly competent, and not even especially villainous in his own right. He is a man who loves his Osage wife Mollie (Lily Gladstone) with apparent sincerity while simultaneously participating in the conspiracy to murder her family members. DiCaprio plays this contradiction without attempting to resolve it, showing how ordinary people can commit extraordinary evil through compartmentalization, self-deception, and deference to authority figures.
The performance requires DiCaprio to be pathetic rather than magnetic, and he commits fully to this unglamorous characterization. De Niro’s William Hale operates on an entirely different register. His Hale is avuncular, community-minded, and seemingly benevolent toward the Osage people. He speaks their language, attends their ceremonies, and presents himself as their friend and protector. This performance of allyship makes the revelation of his true nature””cold, calculating, utterly indifferent to Indigenous life””all the more chilling. De Niro underplays the menace, allowing it to emerge through small gestures and shifts in expression. When Hale discusses murder, he does so with the same tone he might use to discuss cattle prices. This banality of evil approach proves more disturbing than any theatrical villainy could achieve.
- DiCaprio underwent physical transformation for the role, gaining weight and altering his posture to embody Ernest’s schlubby mediocrity
- De Niro and DiCaprio share approximately 25 scenes together, many featuring extended dialogue sequences filmed in long takes
- Both actors reportedly deferred their usual salaries in favor of backend participation, reflecting commitment to the project beyond financial motivation
Lily Gladstone’s Breakthrough as Mollie Burkhart
While DiCaprio and De Niro received significant pre-release attention, the critical and awards conversation surrounding Killers of the Flower Moon quickly centered on Lily Gladstone’s portrayal of Mollie Burkhart. Gladstone, a member of the Blackfeet and Nez Perce tribes, delivers a performance of remarkable restraint and emotional depth that anchors the film’s moral center. Her Mollie is not a passive victim but a woman of intelligence, dignity, and increasingly terrible awareness of what her husband and his family are doing. Gladstone’s performance operates largely through observation and reaction. Mollie watches Ernest, watches Hale, watches her family members die one by one, and the audience sees her gradual comprehension of the conspiracy reflected in her eyes. This is not showy acting””there are no monologues, no explosive confrontations until late in the film.
Instead, Gladstone conveys volumes through the way Mollie holds herself, the pauses before she speaks, the careful neutrality she maintains when surrounded by those she cannot trust. The performance requires audiences to actively engage, to read the subtext beneath Mollie’s measured responses. The historical Mollie Burkhart survived the Reign of Terror but lost her mother and three sisters to the conspiracy orchestrated by her husband’s uncle. She eventually testified against Ernest and Hale, helping secure their convictions. Gladstone honors this history by portraying Mollie as a survivor rather than a symbol””a specific woman navigating impossible circumstances with whatever agency she can preserve. The performance earned Gladstone the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama, making her the first Native American actress to win in that category, and positioned her as a frontrunner for the Academy Award.
- Gladstone spent months researching Osage culture and consulting with descendants of Mollie Burkhart
- Much of her dialogue is delivered in the Osage language, which Gladstone learned for the production
- Her screen time, while substantial, is notably less than DiCaprio’s, leading to discussions about the film’s point-of-view choices
Cinematography and Technical Craft in Killers of the Flower Moon
Rodrigo Prieto’s cinematography in Killers of the Flower Moon achieves something rare in contemporary filmmaking””it creates a visual language that feels simultaneously classical and distinctly modern. Working with Scorsese, Prieto developed a visual approach that emphasizes the Oklahoma landscape as both beautiful and threatening, using natural light and restrained camera movement to ground the historical drama in physical reality. The film was shot primarily on location in Oklahoma, with the Osage Nation providing access to historically significant sites. The color palette shifts subtly throughout the film, reflecting the poisoning motif that runs through the narrative. Early scenes featuring the Osage community possess warmth and vibrancy; as the conspiracy tightens and Mollie’s health deteriorates from the insulin injections disguised as medicine, the imagery becomes increasingly desaturated and sickly.
This visual deterioration mirrors Mollie’s physical decline without announcing itself through obvious stylization. Prieto and Scorsese trust audiences to register these changes subconsciously, building unease through accumulation rather than dramatic flourish. The technical department heads across the production deserve recognition for their contributions to the film’s authenticity. Production designer Jack Fisk reconstructed 1920s Fairfax, Oklahoma, with meticulous attention to period detail, including the oil derricks that dominated the landscape. Costume designer Jacqueline West differentiated Osage and white characters through clothing that reflected both cultural identity and economic status””the Osage dressed in expensive contemporary fashions that signaled their wealth, while Hale’s rural rancher aesthetic projected false modesty. Robbie Robertson’s final film score (the composer died shortly before the film’s release) blends traditional instrumentation with Osage musical elements.
- Shot primarily on ARRI Alexa LF digital cameras with Panavision lenses to achieve a specific period texture
- Over 100 days of principal photography across Oklahoma locations
- Visual effects used sparingly, primarily for period-accurate oil field expansions and crowd augmentation
Scorsese’s Narrative Choices and the Film’s Controversial Perspective
One of the most debated aspects of Killers of the Flower Moon concerns Scorsese’s decision to tell this Osage story primarily through the perspective of Ernest Burkhart rather than Mollie or other Indigenous characters. Eric Roth’s original screenplay reportedly focused more on the FBI investigation led by Tom White (played in the film by Jesse Plemons), following the structure of Grann’s book. Scorsese and DiCaprio rewrote substantially to center Ernest’s complicity, arguing that the story of American evil required showing its perpetrators rather than its investigators. Critics of this approach contend that centering Ernest diminishes Osage agency and replicates a pattern of Indigenous stories being filtered through white perspectives. This critique has merit and deserves serious consideration. The film does spend significant runtime inside Ernest’s limited consciousness, observing his rationalizations and self-deceptions.
Mollie, despite Gladstone’s powerful performance, often functions as a figure of suffering rather than action. Defenders of Scorsese’s choice argue that the film explicitly critiques Ernest’s perspective, never allowing audiences to sympathize with him, and that showing the machinery of oppression from inside reveals truths that a purely victimhood-focused narrative might obscure. Scorsese addresses this tension directly in the film’s remarkable final sequence, which breaks from the preceding three hours to offer a meta-commentary on how such stories get told. This coda acknowledges the limitations of any dramatization, including the one audiences have just watched, and returns agency to Osage voices in an unexpected way. Whether this formal gesture adequately addresses the film’s point-of-view problems remains a matter of legitimate debate. What seems clear is that Scorsese was conscious of the critique and attempted, within his capabilities as a non-Indigenous filmmaker, to grapple with it honestly.
- Original screenplay drafts focused more heavily on Tom White’s FBI investigation
- Osage Nation consultants provided feedback throughout production on representation concerns
- The film’s ending underwent significant revision to address perspective questions
How to Prepare
- **Read or research the historical background** before viewing. David Grann’s book “Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI” provides comprehensive context, though even a basic familiarity with the Osage oil wealth and Reign of Terror will enhance comprehension. The film does not extensively explain the headright system or guardianship laws, assuming some baseline knowledge.
- **Plan for the runtime** by treating the viewing as an event rather than casual entertainment. At 206 minutes, the film requires commitment. If watching at home via Apple TV+, consider a brief intermission around the two-hour mark, as the pacing shifts at approximately that point. Theatrical viewers should prepare accordingly with comfortable seating and appropriate refreshment timing.
- **Watch with minimal distractions** to appreciate the film’s deliberate pacing and subtle performances. Gladstone’s work in particular rewards close attention to facial expressions and body language. The sound design includes layered ambient elements that can be lost in distracted viewing conditions.
- **Familiarize yourself with the key players** to avoid confusion during the initial establishment of characters and relationships. The central figures include Ernest Burkhart, his uncle William Hale, Ernest’s wife Mollie, her sisters (Anna, Rita, and Minnie), their mother Lizzie, and FBI agent Tom White. Understanding these relationships before viewing reduces cognitive load.
- **Consider the film’s place in Scorsese’s filmography** if you are a serious student of cinema. Watching or rewatching Goodfellas, Casino, and The Irishman provides context for how Scorsese typically depicts American criminality, making his different approach here more apparent and meaningful.
How to Apply This
- **Compare the film’s narrative choices with the source book** to understand what Scorsese and his collaborators added, emphasized, or omitted. Grann’s book structures around the FBI investigation, while the film foregrounds the Burkhart marriage””this shift has significant implications for how audiences experience the story.
- **Research the Osage Nation’s contemporary perspective** on the film and the historical events. Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear has spoken publicly about the collaboration with Scorsese and the community’s response to seeing their history depicted on screen. These perspectives provide crucial context that the film alone cannot offer.
- **Analyze the film’s visual and sonic elements** through multiple viewings or targeted scene analysis. The insulin injection sequences, for instance, demonstrate how Prieto and Scorsese build dread through framing and pacing without graphic violence. The score’s integration of Osage musical elements deserves attention as a cultural bridge-building choice.
- **Use the film as an entry point for broader Indigenous history education** rather than treating it as definitive. The Osage murders connect to larger patterns of Indigenous dispossession, allotment policies, and resource exploitation that continue to have contemporary relevance.
Expert Tips
- Pay close attention to the scenes featuring Mollie and Ernest alone together. These sequences contain the film’s most morally complex material, showing genuine affection alongside fundamental betrayal. Scorsese refuses to simplify their relationship into pure manipulation, making the tragedy more profound.
- Note how Hale’s dialogue consistently frames his actions in benevolent language. De Niro’s delivery normalizes murder through euphemism and rationalization, demonstrating how ordinary language can mask extraordinary evil. This technique has applications for understanding historical atrocities more broadly.
- Watch the background characters in crowd scenes, many of whom are Osage citizens playing their own ancestors. Scorsese’s commitment to authentic casting extends beyond principal roles, and these performances add texture that studio extras could not provide.
- The film’s final sequence demands full attention and reconsideration of everything preceding it. Do not leave early or dismiss this coda as an afterthought””it represents Scorsese’s attempt to address the inherent limitations of historical dramatization.
- Consider revisiting the film after initial viewing to catch details missed during first exposure. The runtime and emotional weight can cause fatigue that obscures Scorsese’s layered visual storytelling. Second viewings consistently reveal new elements.
Conclusion
Killers of the Flower Moon stands as one of the defining American films of the 2020s, a work that demands engagement with historical atrocity while delivering the craft and emotional power expected of Scorsese at his best. The film’s length and deliberate pacing may challenge casual viewers, but those who commit to the experience will find a deeply rewarding examination of how greed and racism operated””and continue to operate””within American institutional structures. The performances from DiCaprio, De Niro, and especially Gladstone offer career-defining work that will be studied and celebrated for decades. The film’s significance extends beyond its artistic achievements to its cultural and educational value.
For many viewers, Killers of the Flower Moon will serve as their introduction to the Osage murders””a historical episode that remained largely unknown despite occurring less than a century ago. This visibility matters, both for honoring the victims and their descendants and for understanding how American prosperity has been built, in part, on Indigenous dispossession and death. The film does not offer easy catharsis or redemptive resolution; it asks audiences to sit with discomfort and carry that awareness forward. Those willing to accept this challenge will find in Scorsese’s epic a profound statement about American history and the ongoing necessity of confronting it honestly.
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