Director Martin Scorsese made his name with a number of crime epics over the past five decades of cinema. And he has at least one more coming to theaters this year in Killers of the Flower Moon. Scorsese is reteaming with his frequent collaborators Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro for a chilling tale that is based upon a true story. And while the first trailer withholds a lot of information about the plot, it does arrive at its point with a loaded question: “Can you spot the wolves in this picture?”
David Grann’s 2017 novel, Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, is the basis for the film, and the trailer touches upon the origins of the Osage people. It also hints at a deadly plot to exterminate the Osage in the 1920s because they are the legal owners of land rich with oil. The truly wealthy and powerful of the era aren’t willing to share that wealth, and someone has taken that idea to the extreme.
DiCaprio is playing Ernest Burkhart, the nephew of a famous cattle baron, William Hale (De Niro). Ernest is also in a relationship with Mollie Kyle (Lily Gladstone), an Osage woman who finds herself as one of the heirs to the oil fields of her people. In this era, interracial relationships are frowned upon, but Ernest and Mollie have bigger things to worry about than mere racism. If these murders aren’t stopped, an entire race of people could be destroyed.
Jesse Plemons co-stars as former Texas Ranger Tom White, and it’s his job to oversee the investigation and bring the murderers to justice. The supporting cast includes Brendan Fraser as W. S. Hamilton, John Lithgow as Prosecutor Leaward, Tantoo Cardinal as Lizzie Q, Cara Jade Myers as Anna Brown, JaNae Collins as Reta, Jillian Dion as Minnie, William Belleau as Henry Roan, Louis Cancelmi as Kelsie Morrison, and Jason Isbell as Bill Smith.
Scorsese co-wrote the script with Eric Roth, and the film reportedly has a runtime of 3 hours and 26 minutes. Killers of the Flower Moon is a coproduction of Paramount Pictures and Apple Studios. It will get a limited theatrical release on October 6 before going wide on October 20. Beyond that, it will stream on Apple TV+ at a later date.
