“Greed is an animal that hungers for blood”: The film, which will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival this weekend, is based on a true story packed with drama. It will be exclusively in theaters on October 6th, 2023.
Set in 1920s Oklahoma, Apple’s newest feature can be described as a Western drama starring DiCaprio and love interest Lily Gladstone. It is based on one of the best-selling non-fiction books, “Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and The Birth of The FBI” by David Grann.
The trailer just dropped, and fans are excited about the indigenous representation in the film.
The Osage murders were a series of 24 mysterious deaths of Native Americans in the early 1920s. Local authorities scarcely investigated the deaths until the FBI, which was the U.S. Bureau of Investigation back then, stepped in. They gained jurisdiction in the area because one of the murders happened on a restricted Native American land, but what they uncover exposes American greediness and just how far people will go for money.
Director Martin Scorsese brought the book to the big screen, bringing Grann’s non-fiction story to life. The star-studded cast isn’t the only reason you should go see it, as it is an important part of U.S. history that should be seen from the perspective of the Native Americans.
I am happy to see DiCaprio’s name in the headlines that, for once, don’t have to do with his dating preferences. Though his dating lifestyle is a little, let’s say, different, his performance in films can only be described as memorable and captivating. If we look at his past dramas, like Shutter Island and Titanic, it is easy to see how he will succeed in the FBI agent role.
Not only do we have DiCaprio, but seeing De Niro’s face in the trailer made me smile so big. He is another of the greats, and I am so happy to see both of them do another side-by-side film. These two have not done a film together since the 1993 film “This Boy’s Life” directed by Michael Caton-Jones. I am excited to see how their dynamic is so many years later.
In the love story, Vanity Fair describes as “twisted,” DeCaprio’s Ernest Burkhart and Gladstone’s Mollie share a relationship that wasn’t uncommon for the time. DiCaprio described to Deadline that Osage women married white men because they often would come to “prey” on them for their money. Mollie became rich from the oil industry, as did many other Osage women during this time, so we are left to question DiCaprio’s intentions.
The wait for this film is going to be brutal, but I am eager to see reviews after it premieres at the Cannes Film Festival that is currently underway. I have not seen a good movie based on a true story in quite a bit, so I hope Scorsese lives up to and goes beyond the expectations set by fans.
