Historical dramas are one of the most popular genres, especially westerns. And with such high ratings already, Killers of the Flower Moon is becoming one of the most anticipated films coming in the next few months.
Directed by Martin Scorsese, the film has reached a runtime of over three hours and has cost Apple $200 million to make. Starring popular names like Leonardo DiCaprio, fans are exciting to see it in theaters. But what is Killers of the Flower Moon about?
RELATED: What to Stream This Weekend?
What is Killers of the Flower Moon About?
Killers of the Flower Moon is an epic western crime drama starring DiCaprio is set in the 1920s in Northeastern Oklahoma. The film follows a Native American tribe of the Great Plains, the Osage Nation. The land they relocated to in the 1890s were once thought worthless, but when they discovered oil, their lives turned lavish.
The film follows a group of businessmen who have started a plan to steal the oil from the Osage people, using illegal methods and even murder if necessary.
This plan was created and led by William Hale, who De Niro will be playing. Hale knows that if they wed someone from the tribe, the oil revenue could legally be obtained, so he encourages his nephew, Ernest Burkhard, who is played by DiCaprio, to marry Mollie Kyle, portrayed by Lily Gladstone.
From there, members of the family turn up dead in mysterious and suspicious manners, and well as other Osage people outside the family. These killings are being investigated by a Texas Ranger, part of the Bureau of Investigation, which is now known as the FBI, all led by J. Edgar Hoover.
Newspapers at the time described these increasingly large number of unsolved murders as the Reign of Terror, lasing from 1921 through 1931. Some even believe that there were several murders unaccounted for or covered up.
Is It a True Story?
Killers of the Flower Moon is a true story and is an adaptation of David Grann’s 2017 nonfiction book sharing the same name, Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders on the Birth of the FBI. Grann’s novel was one of the top nonfiction books of 2017.
In the book, Grann talks about everything that unfolded during that time period and what happened to the Osage people who were tied to the oil deposits on their land.
His book focuses more on the creation of the FBI, their investigation as well as the criminal and legal battle that took place in courts because of it.
CHECK OUT: What Is the Impact of the 2023 Writers Strike on Movies and TV This Fall?
The Production
Martin Scorsese is one of the biggest names in the movie industry. He’s an American and Italian film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. He has been the recipient of several major accolades, such as Academy Awards, Emmy Awards, Golden Globe Awards and many more. Scorsese even won the Palme d’Or at Cannes with his 1976 pscyhological thriller Taxi Driver.
He’s most well-known for his films The Departed, Cape Fear, Shutter Island and The Aviator. This is Scorsese’s first narrative feature since his 2019 film The Irishman and features his very frequent collaborators Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro.
Unlike the novel by Grann, Scorsese plans on focusing more on the love story aspect rather than the birth of the FBI. He talks about his changing viewpoints with TIME, as he began production with DiCaprio playing Tom White, the lawman. But soon realized that telling a story through the eyes of the FBI was the wrong approach, saying he realized he “was making a movie about all the white guys”.
Scorsese and DiCaprio soon found that the story isn’t about the birth of the FBI truly, but the story between Ernest and Mollie.
Release Date
Killers of the Flower Moon is expected to be released in select theaters on October 6, and then a wide release October 20th.
It will stream on Apple TV+ after, however, there is not a specific release date of when as of now. You can grab an Apple TV+ membership with them for only $6.99 a month, with a 7 day free trial to test out if you want it. You can also do the Apple One bundle, which includes five Apple services into a single monthly subscription of only $16.95 per month, which is an amazing deal if you use several Apple products.
