"Jane Campion’s superb gothic western is mysterious and menacing"- The Guardian ★★★★★
Rancher Phil Burbank (a brooding Benedict Cumberbatch) is an intimidating presence to all but his brother George (Jesse Plemons). The two men run a hugely successful inherited ranch on the edge of a tiny frontier town in the early 1920s. With only the company of the rough cattlehands, George yearns for something a little more refined, while Phil is content with their mutual isolation and craves his brother’s favour and companionship. But when George brings home a new wife (Kirsten Dunst) and her teenage son (Kodi Smit-McPhee), Phil turns on his most arresting power to torment.
Adapting from a novel by Thomas Savage, Campion grips you from the start and expertly ratchets the tension – with Ari Wegner’s cinematography and Jonny Greenwood’s score helping to cast an ominous spell. Often playing affable eccentrics, this is a Benedict Cumberbatch unlike any we’ve seen, brilliantly terrorising every frame with silent menace. And scene by scene, our understanding of his cruel persona shifts in such surprising and fascinating ways.