---
title: "Killers of the Flower Moon"
year: 2023
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/killers-of-the-flower-moon"
fi1m_id: "killers-of-the-flower-moon"
imdb_id: "tt5537002"
tmdb_id: 466420
wikidata_id: "Q66316924"
fi1m_score: 86
critics_score: 87
critics_reviews: 13
published: "2026-09-10"
updated: "2026-09-18T08:38:04.864954+00:00"
region: "DK"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)

Directed by Martin Scorsese · 3h 26m · Medierådet 15 · Crime, History, Drama

## Identity

Killers of the Flower Moon

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/killers-of-the-flower-moon
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** killers-of-the-flower-moon
- **IMDb ID:** tt5537002
- **TMDB ID:** 466420
- **Wikidata ID:** Q66316924
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5537002/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/466420, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q66316924

**Fi1m score: 86** · Critics 87 from 13 reviews

*In a sentence:* A man marries for money, falls in love anyway, and still does exactly what his uncle tells him

> Scorsese’s account of the Osage murders is long, plain and appalling in the right way: it shows the killings in daylight and tells us who did them from the start. Lily Gladstone holds it together, and it is weaker when she is off screen.

## Synopsis

Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) comes to work for his uncle William Hale (Robert De Niro), a cattleman who calls himself a friend to the Osage and speaks their language to prove it. The Osage have oil under their land and money in the bank, and white men have gathered to marry into it. Ernest drives a car for hire, courts Mollie (Lily Gladstone), a quiet woman with three sisters, and marries her. Then Osage men and women begin to die, and nobody in town seems in any hurry to ask why. Martin Scorsese directs from a script written with Eric Roth; Jesse Plemons, Tantoo Cardinal and Cara Jade Myers are also in the cast.

## Review

Martin Scorsese has made a film about the Osage murders from the side of the men who did the killing. Everything else follows from that. There is no mystery: within half an hour we know who is arranging the deaths and why, and the remaining three hours watch it happen while the town carries on buying motor cars. It is long, plain and quietly appalling. We recommend it, with the caveat that it is built to be sat through rather than enjoyed. The poster asked whether you could find the wolves in the picture. You can. They are paying for the coffins.

Robert De Niro’s William Hale is the reason it works. Hale is a cattleman who speaks Osage, takes his hat off at Osage funerals and asks to be called King. The voice is soft and reasonable, the face is patient, and we kept waiting for the mask to slip; it never does, because there is no mask. Leonardo DiCaprio, as the nephew Ernest, goes the other way: jaw pushed forward, mouth turned down, the walk of a man told he is stupid so often that he has stopped arguing. It is the least he has asked of an audience in years and we liked him more for it.

Lily Gladstone is Mollie, the Osage woman Ernest courts for her money and then, to his own inconvenience, comes to love. Gladstone does almost nothing and it is enough. She lets him talk, calls him a coyote and smiles. When a storm comes over the house she tells him to sit still and be quiet, because the rain is powerful, and he does. That scene got at us more than we expected: it is the last time in the film anybody is at peace, and Scorsese lets it run in near silence. Jacqueline West wraps her in Osage blankets over 1920s dresses. Tantoo Cardinal, as her mother Lizzie Q, watches the white men with a face that needs no subtitles, and Cara Jade Myers as her sister Anna is drunk, funny and afraid of nobody present.

The killings are shown flat. Rodrigo Prieto films them in daylight and at a middle distance, and Thelma Schoonmaker cuts away almost before the body has hit the ground. Nobody runs. The camera does not push in. We were horrified, and the horror came from how little fuss anyone on screen made about a man shot on open ground in the afternoon. Robbie Robertson’s score is a heartbeat on a bass drum and a slow electric guitar, and it keeps the same tempo whether someone is dancing or being buried. Jack Fisk’s town is a wide dirt street of new brick banks with the paint barely dry. In places Prieto drops into the washed colour and jittering frame rate of old newsreel, and for a few seconds the film looks like evidence.

The flaw is the shape. Mollie is the centre of the film and for a long stretch of the last third she is off screen, and without her it becomes a story about white men being dealt with by other white men. Jesse Plemons arrives as Tom White, a government man with a mild voice and a hat he never knows where to put, and the temperature drops when he walks in. John Lithgow and Brendan Fraser turn up in scenes we will not describe, and Fraser plays his lawyer at a volume the film has spent three hours refusing. At 206 minutes it is not padded, but there are twenty minutes in the middle where we knew what the next scene would be and were right.

Against Scorsese’s own work it sits nearer *Silence* and *The Irishman* than [*Goodfellas*](https://film.one/film/goodfellas): a late film, slow, with no interest in making its criminals attractive. The last ten minutes take a form we will not describe. Most critics have called it the boldest thing in the film; we admired the nerve of it and were not sure we needed it.

See it in a cinema if you can. At home the length asks more of you, and the temptation to split it over two evenings is real and would ruin it. The 15 certificate is fair. Nothing is lingered on. Nothing needs to be.

*Fi1m score 86, published 10 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

The reviews are almost uniformly warm and the spread is narrow. Most critics treat Scorsese’s account of the Osage murders as a long film that earns its length, and the praise clusters on the acting: Lily Gladstone’s Mollie is named again and again as the film’s emotional centre, with De Niro’s Hale and an against-type DiCaprio close behind. Several reviews single out the decision to tell the story from the Osage side rather than as a detective procedural, and a few credit the editing and the score with keeping three and a half hours moving.

Reservations are few and mostly about length. Sight and Sound finds the final third weaker once Gladstone is off screen, and Little White Lies is the one properly mixed voice, calling it fascinating and frustrating in equal measure, high on seriousness and low on spectacle, and suggesting it may not read as vintage Scorsese on a first viewing. Nobody dislikes it.

## Straight answers

**Is Killers of the Flower Moon worth watching?**

*Killers of the Flower Moon* is worth watching for anyone prepared to sit through 206 minutes of a crime told from the side of the men committing it, and we scored it 86. It is built to be endured rather than enjoyed, and it sags when Lily Gladstone is off screen in the last third. See it in a cinema if you can; splitting it over two evenings would ruin it.

**How long is Killers of the Flower Moon, and what is it rated?**

*Killers of the Flower Moon* runs 3h 26m and is rated 15 by the Medierådet in Denmark. It is a crime and history film.

**Where can I watch Killers of the Flower Moon in Denmark?**

*Killers of the Flower Moon* is streaming on Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video in Denmark, and it is also available to rent from Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV from kr 39.00. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How violent or frightening is Killers of the Flower Moon, and is it suitable for children?**

*Killers of the Flower Moon* carries a UK 15 certificate and is not for children. The killings are shown plainly, in daylight and at a distance, with the camera cutting away almost at once, so nothing is lingered on; the horror comes from how little anyone on screen reacts. Older teenagers who can manage the length and the subject should be fine.

**How does Killers of the Flower Moon compare to There Will Be Blood?**

*Killers of the Flower Moon* and [*There Will Be Blood*](https://film.one/film/there-will-be-blood) are both about oil, greed and a monster in a good hat, set in the same country twenty years apart. Anderson's film is the more gripping and frightening, driven by Daniel Day-Lewis; Scorsese's is longer, plainer and colder, with no interest in making its criminals attractive. Choose Anderson for a character study, Scorsese for the record of a crime.

**What should I watch after Killers of the Flower Moon?**

After *Killers of the Flower Moon*, try [*There Will Be Blood*](https://film.one/film/there-will-be-blood) (2007, Fi1m 88): Oil, a preacher, a monster in a good hat; the same country, twenty years earlier. Then [*Memories of Murder*](https://film.one/film/memories-of-murder) (2003, Fi1m 91): Korean police fail a town for two hours and the failure is the point; and [*The Irishman*](https://film.one/film/the-irishman) (2019, Fi1m 86): Scorsese’s other late film about killers, with De Niro even quieter than here.

### Reviews we read (23)

- **Radio Times**, Patrick Cremona (5/5): The critic praises it as a richly detailed true epic that tells its story with patience and precision, highlighting Gladstone's impeccable performance, the score's urgency, and the unorthodox ending as a move of genius. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-tepua6/killers-of-the-flower-moon/)
- **Time Out**, Phil de Semlyen (5/5): The critic calls it an utterly gripping, impeccably constructed and politically-charged true-crime epic that sits alongside Scorsese's best work, singling out Lily Gladstone's flinty emotional core and the masterful editing and score. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/killers-of-the-flower-moon-2023)
- **Screen Daily** (90/100, inferred): The critic calls it terrific cinema and a Great American Film that captures the nation's original sin, praising the masterful choice to focus on the Osage and the elevated, goal-directed framing while noting the biblical and human scope. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/killers-of-the-flower-moon-cannes-review/5182225.article)
- **Total Film**, Jane Crowther (90/100, inferred): Scorsese's multi-layered epic is worth every second, a rich immersive masterclass on greed, racism and more. The critic highlights the outstanding performances across the board, especially from De Niro, DiCaprio and Gladstone. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/killers-of-the-flower-moon-review/)
- **Sight and Sound** (85/100, inferred): The critic calls it a landmark achievement for Scorsese that gradually reveals itself as extraordinary, praising the shift in focus to the Osage story and Lily Gladstone's central performance while noting it suffers from her absence in the final third. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/killers-flower-moon-second-look-review-landmark-achievement-martin-scorsese)
- **Evening Standard**, Hamish MacBain (80/100, inferred): Scorsese's historical epic zips along and is genuinely his best since The Wolf of Wall Street, with a hell of a story told beautifully. The critic singles out Lily Gladstone's standout performance as the real star and the beating heart of the film. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/killers-of-the-flower-moon-review-martin-scorsese-leonardo-dicaprio-robert-de-niro-b1113602.html)
- **Little White Lies**, David Jenkins (5/3/4): The critic describes it as a big, fascinating, frustrating prestige epic of high seriousness and low spectacle, praising the performances especially Gladstone's stoic presence and the extraordinary coda while noting it may not be vintage Scorsese on first watch. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/killers-of-the-flower-moon/)
- **Empire**, John Nugent: Scorsese delivers exceptional filmmaking in this vast yet intimate crime epic about the Osage murders. The critic singles out the central relationship between Ernest and Mollie, and Lily Gladstone's restrained, devastating performance, for particular praise. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/killers-of-the-flower-moon/)
- **Financial Times**, Danny Leigh: The critic describes a bristling epic of cyclical American violence, a grim true-crime chronicle and Native American horror story with De Niro queasily superb and the director on new political ground while remaining Scorsese to the core. It singles out the recurring theme of American violence and strong pacing across its long runtime. [Read](https://www.ft.com/content/4dcdecf4-7d9c-4b00-a51a-592e21cb15be)
- **IndieWire**, David Ehrlich: Scorsese's adaptation focuses on a poisonous love story rather than the book's mythic sweep, with DiCaprio delivering one of his best performances in this bitter crime epic. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/killers-of-the-flower-moon-review-1234865405/)
- **The Guardian**, Wendy Ide: The critic praises Scorsese’s gripping, masterful account of the Osage murders, highlighting towering performances from De Niro, an against-type DiCaprio and magnetic Lily Gladstone. It singles out the film’s focus on power structures and a marriage of real love amid exploitation as its core strength. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/oct/22/killers-of-the-flower-moon-review-martin-scorsese-osage-county-native-american-masterly-true-crime-epic-robert-de-niro-leonardo-dicaprio-lily-gladstone)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, David Rooney: Scorsese delivers a searing, three-and-a-half-hour true-crime epic about the Osage murders that honors victims and survivors with atmospheric detail and strong performances, especially from Lily Gladstone as the wounded heart of the story. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/killers-of-the-flower-moon-review-leonardo-dicaprio-lily-gladstone-robert-de-niro-martin-scorsese-1235496646/)
- **The New York Times**, Manohla Dargis (Critic’s Pick): The critic calls the film an unsettling masterpiece and a requiem for the country, praising Scorsese’s grace, sorrow, and sublime filmmaking clarity in adapting the true-crime story of the Osage murders. The review singles out the film’s destabilizing mix of genres and its apocalyptic imagery as standout elements. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/19/movies/killers-of-the-flower-moon-review-martin-scorsese.html)
- **The Telegraph**: The critic calls it a masterpiece and extravagant Western that gives DiCaprio his best role yet, with Scorsese outdoing himself in diagnosing America’s sicknesses through toxic performances from DiCaprio and De Niro. It singles out the rich, riveting character work and fresh take on Scorsese’s recurring themes. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/killers-of-the-flower-moon-cannes-review-a-martin-scorsese/)
- **Vulture**: The film is ultimately a twisted marriage story between Mollie and Ernest, with Gladstone giving a standout performance as the story's emotional core amid Scorsese's exploration of greed and moral failure. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/article/killers-of-the-flower-moon-is-the-slipperiest-of-things.html)
- **Den of Geek**, David Crow (4.5/5): The critic calls it a sprawling, merciless reckoning with American greed, sin, and the theft of the West that is gripping and monumental despite its indulgent length. They single out De Niro's chilling performance as Hale and Gladstone's towering turn as Mollie for particular praise. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/killers-of-the-flower-moon-review/)
- **/Film**, Lex Briscuso (9/10): The critic calls the film a cautionary masterpiece on the insidiousness of white men, using the true story of the Osage murders to expose betrayal and greed. They single out Lily Gladstone's quiet yet powerful performance as the film's uncontested standout. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/1291931/killers-of-the-flower-moon-review/)
- **Polygon**, Oli Welsh (90/100, inferred): The review deems the film assured, vital, and a scathing indictment of American greed, arriving at a magnificent work through Scorsese's assured storytelling. It singles out the humility, curiosity, despair, and fury in its approach to the Osage people's suffering, anchored by Lily Gladstone's spellbinding performance. [Read](https://www.polygon.com/reviews/23922955/killers-of-the-flower-moon-review-martin-scorsese-leonardo-dicaprio/)
- **NME**, Lou Thomas (85/100, inferred): The critic describes it as a heartbreaking true crime chiller and one of Scorsese’s most important works, praising its sensitive handling of the Osage genocide story, strong performances from DiCaprio, De Niro, and Gladstone, and its earned epic runtime. [Read](https://www.nme.com/reviews/film-reviews/killers-of-the-flower-moon-review-martin-scorsese-3448518)
- **The Ringer**, Miles Surrey (85/100, inferred): The review calls the film an empathetic, unflinching epic that fully justifies its lengthy runtime through its harrowing tale of greed, cruelty, and violence. It singles out the depth and detail given to the Osage Nation's overlooked story as what makes the film essential viewing. [Read](https://www.theringer.com/2023/10/23/movies/killers-of-the-flower-moon-review-long-movie-run-time-justified)
- **Collider**, Chase Hutchinson (80/100, inferred): The review praises the film as a gripping and horrific true story of America's past, centering on Lily Gladstone's standout performance as its emotional core. It singles out Gladstone's subtle, nuanced portrayal of Mollie for bringing humanity, depth, and personal stakes to the epic. [Read](https://collider.com/killers-of-the-flower-moon-lily-gladstone/)
- **Deadline**, Pete Hammond: The critic calls the film a landmark achievement for its sensitive handling of the Osage Nation's story and its shift away from a white savior narrative toward the perpetrators' greed and deception. Strong performances by DiCaprio, De Niro, and Gladstone anchor the dark epic love story and murder plot. [Read](https://deadline.com/2023/05/killers-of-the-flower-moon-review-martin-scorsese-leonardo-dicaprio-robert-de-niro-1235374049/)
- **The Wrap**: The review describes the film as vast and vital, a searing true-crime epic that powerfully illustrates a forgotten chapter of American history with Scorsese's signature crime-drama style. DiCaprio, Gladstone, and De Niro deliver standout performances, culminating in a delicate and masterful conclusion. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/killers-of-the-flower-moon-review-leonardo-dicaprio/)

## Details

- **Director:** Martin Scorsese
- **Director:** Martin Scorsese
- **Screenplay:** Martin Scorsese, Eric Roth
- **Cinematography:** Rodrigo Prieto
- **Editor:** Thelma Schoonmaker
- **Music:** Robbie Robertson
- **Production design:** Jack Fisk
- **Costume design:** Jacqueline West
- **Producer:** Daniel Lupi, Martin Scorsese, Dan Friedkin
- **Cast:** Leonardo DiCaprio as Ernest Burkhart; Robert De Niro as William Hale; Lily Gladstone as Mollie Burkhart; Jesse Plemons as Tom White; Tantoo Cardinal as Lizzie Q; John Lithgow as Prosecutor Peter Leaward; Brendan Fraser as W.S. Hamilton; Cara Jade Myers as Anna
- **Runtime:** 3h 26m
- **Certificate (Medierådet):** 15
- **Release (Denmark):** 19 October 2023
- **Genres:** Crime, History, Drama
- **Also in:** [Best Picture winners](https://film.one/collections/oscar-best-picture.md) (Nominee, 2023); [BAFTA Best Film winners](https://film.one/collections/bafta-best-film.md) (Nominee, 2023); [Golden Globe Best Drama winners](https://film.one/collections/golden-globe-drama.md) (Nominee, 2023)
- **Budget:** $200 million
- **Box office:** $159 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oZUCkJEuvo

## Where to watch in Denmark

- Apple TV: streaming, uhd
- Amazon Prime Video: add-on, uhd
- Amazon Prime Video: rent kr 39.00, uhd
- Apple TV: rent kr 39.00, hd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy kr 99.00, uhd
- Apple TV: buy kr 99.00, hd

*Checked 2026-09-10.*

Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HU, IE, IL, IN, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PL, PT, RO, SE, SG, TH, TR, UA, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *There Will Be Blood* (2007), Fi1m 88: Oil, a preacher, a monster in a good hat; the same country, twenty years earlier — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/there-will-be-blood.md)
- *Memories of Murder* (2003), Fi1m 91: Korean police fail a town for two hours and the failure is the point — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/memories-of-murder.md)
- *Once Upon a Time in Anatolia* (2011): A night-long search for a body, slow, funny, and quietly furious
- *The Irishman* (2019), Fi1m 86: Scorsese’s other late film about killers, with De Niro even quieter than here — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-irishman.md)
- *Wind River* (2017), Fi1m 76: A dead Native woman in the snow and a system that does not much care — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/wind-river.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/killers-of-the-flower-moon