The Power of the Dog (film)
| Company type | Film |
|---|---|
| Industry | Film industry |
| Founded | 2021 |
| Founder | Jane Campion |
| Products | Western psychological drama film |
The Power of the Dog is a 2021 Western psychological drama both penned and helmed by Jane Campion, adapted from the 1967 novel by Thomas Savage. The cast features Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, and Kodi Smit-McPhee. Although set in Montana, principal photography took place mainly in rural Otago, New Zealand. This project represents a collaborative production effort involving New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada.
The film debuted on 2 September 2021 at the 78th Venice International Film Festival, where Campion received the Silver Lion award for Best Direction. Following a limited release in cinemas during November 2021, it became available globally on Netflix starting 1 December 2021. Critics widely praised the movie, highlighting Campion’s direction and screenplay, alongside its cinematography, musical score, and leading actors’ performances.
Widely regarded as one of the standout films of 2021, it secured 12 nominations at the 94th Academy Awards, including categories such as Best Picture, Best Actor for Cumberbatch, two separate Best Supporting Actor nods for Plemons and Smit-McPhee, and a nomination for Best Supporting Actress awarded to Dunst. Campion won the award for Best Director, marking the first time since The Graduate (1967) that a film won solely in this category; its other 11 nominations resulted in losses, tying the record for most Oscar defeats. The film was also recognized as one of 2021’s finest by the American Film Institute Awards.
At the 79th Golden Globe Awards, it garnered seven nominations and won awards for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Supporting Actor (Smit-McPhee), and Best Director. It received ten nominations at the 27th Critics' Choice Awards, winning four including Best Picture, and earned eight nominations at the 75th British Academy Film Awards, where it secured Best Direction and Best Film honors. Today, it is frequently cited among the most exceptional films of both the 2020s decade and the 21st century.
Plot
Set in Montana during 1925, brothers Phil and George Burbank own a prosperous ranch. During a cattle drive, they encounter Rose Gordon, a widow who runs an inn. George quickly develops feelings for Rose, while Phil remains suspicious of her intentions, convinced she is after George’s wealth. Phil also derides Rose’s teenage son Peter as feeble.
Rose marries George and moves into the Burbank ranch; meanwhile, Peter attends medical school. At a dinner event with the governor present, George insists Rose play piano. However, unsettled by Phil’s earlier disparagements, she falters and resorts to drinking. When Peter returns home for a visit, he becomes the target of Phil and his men’s mockery, prompting him to withdraw.
In a remote clearing, Phil is discovered with a scarf that belonged to his late mentor Bronco Henry. Peter uncovers Bronco Henry’s collection of homoerotic magazines and observes Phil bathing while holding the scarf before being driven away. Subsequently, Phil makes amends with Peter by offering to craft a rawhide lasso for him and instructs him in horseback riding.
Peter explores further and finds a dead cow from which he carefully harvests pieces of hide. While riding together, Peter recounts his father’s suicide linked to alcoholism. As Rose’s drinking worsens, she begins exchanging unwanted hides with local Native Americans, which infuriates Phil. George dismisses her behavior as mere illness.
Peter soothes Phil by presenting strips of hide he gathered. They spend time together completing the rope as Phil’s wound continues to bleed. When Peter asks about Phil’s relationship with Bronco Henry, Phil recalls how Bronco saved him during a mountain storm but avoids confirming whether they were unclothed at that time. They share a cigarette afterward.
The following morning George discovers Phil seriously ill due to an infected wound. In a delirious state, Phil searches for Peter to deliver the finished lasso but is taken to a doctor and subsequently dies. At Phil’s funeral, the physician suggests anthrax as the cause of death—a surprise to George since Phil had avoided cattle suspected of disease.
Peter chooses not to attend the funeral; instead he reads from a Book of Common Prayer and carefully stores the completed lasso beneath his bed. Watching George embrace a sober Rose at home, Peter turns away with a subtle smile.
Background
At the start of 2017, following her work on the second season of Top of the Lake, writer-director Jane Campion was introduced to Thomas Savage's 1967 novel The Power of the Dog by her stepmother. Deeply intrigued, Campion and producer Tanya Seghatchian acquired the film rights from Canadian producer Roger Frappier during the 2017 Cannes Film Festival.[1][2] Although the novel had been optioned several times over the years, it had never been adapted for the screen; notable efforts included one by Paul Newman.Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name
While developing the screenplay, Campion engaged in correspondence with author Annie Proulx, who contributed the afterword for a 2001 edition of the book.[3][4] After finishing her draft, Campion traveled to Savage's ranch in Montana, met with his relatives, and sought advice from a specialist at the University of Montana Western.[1] Due to budget limitations, filming did not take place in Montana; instead, locations in New Zealand were selected. Cinematographer Ari Wegner and production designer Grant Major scouted appropriate sites in Central Otago on New Zealand’s South Island well ahead of the early 2020 shooting schedule.[1]
Development and casting
Jane Campion was confirmed as writer and director in May 2019, with Benedict Cumberbatch and Elisabeth Moss initially attached to star. By September, negotiations began with Paul Dano, who was officially cast the following month, while Kirsten Dunst replaced Moss. However, Dano withdrew in November due to scheduling conflicts involving The Batman, leading to Jesse Plemons, who had previously been offered the role, stepping in as his replacement. In February 2020, additional cast members including Thomasin McKenzie, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Frances Conroy, Keith Carradine, Peter Carroll, and Adam Beach were announced.
Campion had envisioned Cumberbatch for the character Phil Burbank after admiring his work in the BBC series Parade's End. To prepare for the role, Cumberbatch studied the history of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and spent time working on a Montana cattle ranch near Glacier National Park. He also undertook an intensive three-week training camp to master horse riding, rope throwing, bull castration techniques, and banjo playing.
Filming
Principal photography commenced in New Zealand in January 2020, with primary locations including Central Otago’s Maniototo, as well as scenes shot in Dunedin and Oamaru. Production was temporarily halted in March due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, but filming resumed in June following border exemptions granted for cast and crew members. Interior sequences were filmed on sound stages located in Auckland, with shooting wrapping up by July. Throughout production, Benedict Cumberbatch maintained his character’s intensity on set, consistently delivering a focused performance alongside co-star Kirsten Dunst.
Cinematography
Director of photography Ari Wegner employed two Arri Alexa LF cameras paired with Panavision Ultra Panatar anamorphic lenses to achieve a 2.40:1 aspect ratio. Jane Campion selected Wegner because of her collaborative nature throughout a year-long preparation phase. Their detailed storyboarding process drew inspiration from period photographs, including works by Evelyn Cameron and archival sources such as Time, Ken Burns’s documentary The West, as well as paintings by Andrew Wyeth and Lucian Freud, all contributing to an authentic visual aesthetic for the film.
Set design
The production design for The Power of the Dog was overseen by Grant Major, who reunited with Campion following their work on An Angel at My Table. To adhere to the filming timeline despite adverse weather conditions, Major's crew erected key structures on-site, including a two-story mansion façade, barn, cattle pen, and stockyards. The mansion's interior spaces were subsequently recreated on a sound stage in Auckland, drawing inspiration from Theodore Roosevelt's Sagamore Hill. Given the scarcity of period-appropriate furnishings in New Zealand, set decorator Amber Richards procured the majority of props from prop houses based in Los Angeles.
Music
Jane Campion brought on Jonny Greenwood to craft the film’s musical score. Greenwood deliberately steered clear of conventional Western motifs characterized by "sweeping strings," instead utilizing atonal brass sounds to evoke the landscape’s eerie and hostile qualities. Dissatisfied with the banjo sound for Phil’s character, he innovatively applied banjo fingerpicking techniques to the cello, producing a unique and unfamiliar sonic texture. Due to pandemic-related restrictions preventing orchestral recordings, Greenwood personally recorded numerous cello layers, combining them to mimic a full orchestral effect.
Release
The Power of the Dog had its debut at the 78th Venice International Film Festival on September 2, 2021. That same month, it was featured as a Special Presentation at both the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival and the Telluride Film Festival. The film also appeared at various other festivals including those in Charlottesville, London, Middleburg, Mill Valley, Montclair, New York (as a centerpiece), San Diego, San Sebastian, Savannah, and Zurich, along with the 52nd International Film Festival of India in November.
The movie received a limited theatrical release starting November 11, 2021, in Australia and New Zealand through distributor Transmission Films. In the United States and United Kingdom, it opened in select theaters on November 17 before becoming available worldwide via Netflix on December 1. A companion documentary titled Behind the Scenes with Jane Campion was released globally on Netflix on January 27, 2022. Netflix allocated close to $50 million toward marketing and awards campaigns for the film.
On November 8, 2022, the film was issued on DVD and Blu-ray by the Criterion Collection.
Box office
While Netflix does not publicly share box office earnings, IndieWire estimated that during its opening weekend across 40 theaters, the film grossed approximately $125,000, accumulating $160,000 over five days.
Audience viewership
Within the initial five days following its digital release, The Power of the Dog streamed in about 1.2 million U.S. households, alongside 92,000 in the UK, 37,000 in Germany, and 16,000 in Australia. By March 20, total U.S. household viewership had reached 3.4 million, including 717,000 since the Oscar nominations announcement on February 8. From release through June 2023, it amassed a total of 4.8 million hours viewed.
Critical response
On review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 94% approval rating based on 351 critiques with an average score of 8.4/10. The critical consensus recognizes it as reaffirming Jane Campion’s status as one of her generation’s premier filmmakers. Meanwhile, Metacritic assigned a weighted average score of 89 out of 100 from 58 reviews.
David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter commended the film as "exquisitely crafted," noting its "unerring subtlety" in delving into characters’ psychological depths. Conversely, Owen Gleiberman from Variety described it as "tidy and old-fashioned," expressing that its concluding act felt "too oblique."
The film featured on more than 118 critics' top-ten lists for 2021—the highest number that year—ranking first on 31 lists and second on 23.
Former U.S. President Barack Obama included it among his favorite films released in 2021.
On April 6, 2023, The Hollywood Reporter placed it at number fifteen in its "50 Best Films of the 21st Century (So Far)" list, labeling it a "brilliantly uncomfortable chamber piece about corrosive masculinity." Later that year on August 24, Collider ranked it eighth among "The 20 Best Drama Movies of the 2020s So Far," emphasizing Campion’s nuanced portrayal of an understated love story set in the American West. The March 2022 edition of New York included it among "The Best Movies That Lost Best Picture at the Oscars." In 2024, IndieWire recognized it as one of "The Best Modern Western Movies," describing it as "one of Jane Campion's most intimate films," and positioned it fourteenth on its June 2025 list titled "100 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far)."
Accolades
The Power of the Dog marks a milestone as the first film helmed by a female director to earn more than ten Academy Award nominations. Jane Campion made history by becoming the first woman to receive two Best Director nods, her initial recognition stemming from The Piano. Although the film garnered 12 nominations, it secured just one Oscar, an uncommon outcome not seen since Becket in 1964.
External links
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