“The Power of the Dog” (MA) *** and a half

IF you’re wondering about the meaning or the origin of this film’s somewhat enigmatic title, look in the Bible, Psalms 22.20.

Writer/director Jane Campion adapted a novel by Thomas Savage telling about two brothers, linked by their shared ownership of a Montana ranch and separated by a collection of irreconcilable personal differences.

The film unfolds around sibling rivalry between brothers Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch) and George (Jesse Plemons). There’s money in the bank and a faded but once elegant rooming house on a lonely part of the prairie managed by Rose (Kirsten Dunst), a widow whose teenage, aspiring medical student son Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee) speaks with a lisp and makes intricate fake flowers out of paper. 

Phil has a university degree but prefers outdoor life and the company of the ranch hands. He envies the tranquility that George is enjoying in the sparse local community and in friendship with Rose. 

In the ranch environment, Peter’s gentle mein is a prime target for Phil’s aggression. 

Campion’s strong yet gently controlled direction guides these four people toward a denouement that avoids sentimentality and matches the visual power of the film’s environment. The film was shot in NZ, which may surprise viewers who have a kinder notion of that country’s landscape. 

At Dendy and Palace Electric