The Power of the Dog

Movie: The Power of the Dog

Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Sound, Best Original Score, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design

How I watched: Netflix

When I fell asleep: I didn't

When it had me: Benedict Cumberbatch

When it lost me: Not until the very end!

What I have to say:

This movie tapped into one of my favorite experiences while I engage in cinematic gluttony: the feeling when I have no idea where a film is going next. I came in with no knowledge of this movie or its source material so I just went on a ride. Will there be forbidden love? Will there be death? Is it all about power struggle? Are outside forces going to upset the balance? I don't know! Anything could happen! 

What I did know was that when you have a mean, bully like Benedict Cumberbatch's character, sooner or later emotions are going to boil over. So that tension kept me in a place of wariness as I waited for the story to unfold. While I waited, the film was gorgeous with beautiful vistas and really good acting. We took a couple of turns I didn't see coming and eventually the film ended. And I was completely lost. I mean, I didn't even know what had happened. It felt anticlimactic and I definitely thought I had missed something.

Dear readers, I had to go ask the internet what the heck I missed and have someone explain it to me. I am not proud of this. I usually follow even the trickiest of movies. Needing help is NOT one of my favorite movie experiences. I really don't know if the movie is hard to follow or if I was just having an off night. Maybe I got too attached to the feeling of wandering through the film with no expectations and missed a few cues along the way. (Note: I have checked in with a few other people who also felt very unclear about what was going on here.)

Once I had a better picture of what was going on in the movie, I found out I liked it a whole lot! But I can't help but deduct from my overall score of the film because I needed the cliff's notes to get there. This might be a movie that benefits from additional viewings. But we don't have time for that during full on Oscar Gluttony!