Power Of The Dog Trailer: Benedict Cumberbatch Leads A Star-Studded Netflix Western

I'm a very simple man. If you put together a cast of Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, and Jesse Plemons in a Western directed by someone of Jane Campion's magnitude, then you've ensured that I will go out of my way to watch it as soon as I humanely can. Well played, Netflix, well played.

"The Power of the Dog" has built up sky-high expectations since almost the moment it was first announced and the new atmospheric trailer does absolutely nothing to diminish that hype. Watch it for yourself below.

The relatively short trailer does just enough to give viewers a taste of the tone, mood, and basic set-up of the story while also making a solid case for Benedict Cumberbatch's whistling abilities. At one point, Kirsten Dunst even yells out, "Peter!", further proving that Spider-Man will forever remain topical and relevant. But we're here to talk about the latest from genuine auteur Jane Campion, who can proudly claim to have movies such as "The Piano," "The Portrait of a Lady," and "In the Cut" under her belt. 

Based on the Thomas Savage novel, "The Power of the Dog" tells the story of what happens when the relationship between two wealthy brothers falls apart, resulting in a woman and her son becoming caught in the crossfire.

Actors Elisabeth Moss and Paul Dano were originally attached to Campion's film, but both have since been replaced by Dunst and Plemons. Written and directed by Campion, the full cast includes Cumberbatch, Dunst, Plemons, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Thomasin McKenzie, Frances Conroy, Keith Carradine, Peter Carroll, and Adam Beach.

The full synopsis of the film is included below and is really worth reading, providing a complete picture of the events of the story in wonderfully descriptive prose.

Severe, pale-eyed, handsome, Phil Burbank is brutally beguiling. All of Phil's romance, power and fragility is trapped in the past and in the land: He can castrate a bull calf with two swift slashes of his knife; he swims naked in the river, smearing his body with mud. He is a cowboy as raw as his hides.
The year is 1925. The Burbank brothers are wealthy ranchers in Montana. At the Red Mill restaurant on their way to market, the brothers meet Rose, the widowed proprietress, and her impressionable son Peter. Phil behaves so cruelly he drives them both to tears, reveling in their hurt and rousing his fellow cowhands to laughter – all except his brother George, who comforts Rose then returns to marry her.
As Phil swings between fury and cunning, his taunting of Rose takes an eerie form – he hovers at the edges of her vision, whistling a tune she can no longer play. His mockery of her son is more overt, amplified by the cheering of Phil's cowhand disciples. Then Phil appears to take the boy under his wing. Is this latest gesture a softening that leaves Phil exposed, or a plot twisting further into menace?

"The Power of the Dog" is set for a limited theatrical run on November 17, 2021 and will have a global release on Netflix on December 1, 2021.