Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)

The most powerful person in this movie spends long stretches of it offscreen. Martin Scorsese tells the story mostly through Ernest, a weak and greedy man, while Mollie, the woman at its center, gets pushed to the edges, and the film would be even stronger if it stayed with her and the Osage families. When it does, Lily Gladstone is extraordinary. She does more with one quiet look across a dinner table than most performers manage with a full page of dialogue. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Ernest with a permanent frown of confusion, and Robert De Niro makes Hale frightening precisely because he’s so polite. At 206 minutes, the middle hour repeats itself, but the slow pace also lets you feel the years pass and the patience behind the harm. It made $158.8 million worldwide on a reported $200M to $215M. An 8.6 because it’s a serious, careful reckoning with a real crime, even when it centers the wrong person. $448 says Mollie’s name stays with you long after the screen goes dark, and it should.

What works: Lily Gladstone’s quiet, piercing Mollie and Robert De Niro’s soft-spoken menace make this history feel close and real.

What doesn’t: It spends far more time with the men causing harm than with Mollie and the Osage community, and the middle hour repeats itself.

Who it’s for: Patient viewers who want a serious American history drama and can give it a whole evening.