Killers of the
Flower Moon

1 The Setup

In 1920s Oklahoma, the Osage Nation becomes impossibly wealthy after oil is discovered under their land. But as Osage people are murdered one by one, the FBI—led by a young J. Edgar Hoover—sends Tom White (Leonardo DiCaprio) to investigate. Tom's solution: get close to Mollie Burkhart (Lily Gladstone), an Osage woman whose family is being killed off, and marry her to gain access to her wealth.

2 What Works

• Lily Gladstone's Devastating Performance: Gladstone anchors the film with quiet dignity and quiet terror. Her final scenes are heartbreaking.
• De Niro's Monstrous William Hale: Robert De Niro plays the charming, calculating mastermind of the murders—a performance of pure evil masked in warmth.
• Scorsese's Moral Reckoning: This is Scorsese confronting his own genre—crime cinema—and asking how Hollywood has whitewashed America's foundational atrocities.