Last week the world caught its first glimpse of Jane Campion’s triumphant return to the big screen in over a decade with the first teaser for The Power of the Dog.
It’s been 12 years since the first woman to win the Palme d’Or at Cannes last directed a feature film (2009’s Bright Star), and now she’s back with a menacing western drama starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Jesse Plemons as two rival brothers and Kirsten Dunst as Plemons’ wife.
The new trailer doesn’t show us much- it really is only a teaser. But it does display some of Campion’s trademark stunning direction and especially the gorgeous cinematography of Ari Wegner who worked on this year’s Zola. The Power of the Dog is predicted to be one of this year’s Awards darlings and is currently many people’s front runner for Best Picture at next year’s Oscars. There really isn’t much dialogue in the teaser, although we do hear Cumberbatch whistling a haunting tune throughout.
Watch the teaser in the player below:
We also got some beautiful stills displaying these characters and the stunning backdrop of 20th Century Montana.
The film, based on a book of the same name by Thomas Savage, is about the pleasant George (Plemons) and his wife Rose (Dunst) who are sabotaged by George’s sadistic and malicious brother (Cumberbatch) after George marries Mary and brings her on to the family ranch. This does mark a change for the two leading men; Cumberbatch is known for playing the hero and the nice guy, whereas Plemons, who rose to stardom after playing the callous Todd in Breaking Bad, is usually the creepy one. This change up and looking at what brief scenes we see in this teaser, suggests that these performances will be ones to remember. Dunst also looks like she might snag some love this awards season as she gives a presumably devastatingly good performance under Campion’s direction as George’s wife being terrorised by her new brother-in-law into alcoholism and suicidal thoughts.
The Power of the Dog will have its premier this week at the Venice Film Festival and then arrive on Netflix in December.
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