The Power of the Dog has received a whopping 12 Oscar nods for the 94th Academy Awards that is scheduled to take place on March 27th, 2022. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Jesse Plemons, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Kirsten Dunst, this 2021 Netflix Original might finally help break the Netflix curse at the Oscars if it manages to win the Best Picture Award.
Having broken previous records held by Roma and Mank, the film has received various nominations across the categories, including the highly-coveted Best Picture Award, the Best Director, Best Lead Actor for Benedict Cumberbatch, two Best Supporting Actor Awards for both Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee as well as the Best Supporting Actress Award for Kirsten Dunst.
The film has also been nominated for Sound, Best Adapted Screenplay, Original Score, Editing, Production Design, Cinematography etc.
Based on Thomas Savage’s 1967 eponymous novel, Jane Campion’s film touches upon darker themes of bullying, misogyny, internalised homophobia and toxic masculinity while examining the changing landscape of the lives of two wealthy ranchers brothers in the 1920s.
Benedict Cumberbatch, who well-deservedly won a nomination for his brilliant performance in his role as the problematic Phil Burbank, terrorised his brother’s new wife and her son before undergoing a homosexual reawakening.
Lauded for his brilliant method-acting, he was exceptional in the film’s climax scene when he went into a fit of rage after Dunst’s character sold his cowhide. Jane Campion, too, was pleasantly “stunned” and “thrilled” at his improvisation and admittedly taken aback at his brilliant explosion of emotions.
With various other worthy contenders, including Andrew Garfield for yet another Netflix film, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s tick, tick…boom!, film buffs are excited to see if Cumberbatch will outpace his contemporaries and win his first-ever Academy Award for his phenomenal performance.
