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Our take
Set over a long stretch in 1920s Oklahoma, this Scorsese film tracks the Osage murders as racism and betrayal rot a marriage from the inside. The conspiracy plays out through poisonings and shootings, and the white conspirators are rarely without a drink. Do not come for a tidy mystery solved at the end; what you get is historical dread that hardly ever lifts. This one is really for older teens who can stay with a slow story about injustice.
Uplifting themes
A drive to find the truth, and a refusal to turn away from it, runs through the investigation. The film as a whole stays bleak. Even so, a slender moral backbone is visible underneath. Osage women and their allies keep pressing for answers even with danger hanging over them. The help that arrives is both late and flawed. There is real courage on show here, and flawed people who still manage some decent choices. Underneath the drama sits a piece of Osage history that most Australian families never touched at school. Some further reading goes well with it once the credits roll. The learning here is genuine, not just background decoration Osage women and their allies keep pressing for answers even with danger hanging over them. The help that arrives is both late and flawed. There is real courage on show here, and flawed people who still manage some decent choices Underneath the drama sits a piece of Osage history that most Australian families never touched at school. Some further reading goes well with it once the credits roll. The learning here is genuine, not just background decoration
Story (may spoil tone)
When oil is discovered in 1920s Oklahoma under Osage Nation land, the Osage people are murdered one by one—until the FBI steps in to unravel the mystery.
What we flagged
Details
Violence As the plot thickens, people are poisoned, shot, or killed at close ran…
As the plot thickens, people are poisoned, shot, or killed at close range. A lot of these attacks land with barely a moment's warning, and the story just carries on afterward. That chilly, matter-of-fact pattern holds across the full, lengthy running time
Language The conspirators use period swearing and harsh racial slurs within clea…
The conspirators use period swearing and harsh racial slurs within clear earshot. As the plot tightens, those lines stay fully out in the open. The hard-R talk is bound up with how ugly this true story gets
Sex / nudity Married intimacy appears on screen, but the camera keeps it plain, with…
Married intimacy appears on screen, but the camera keeps it plain, with no softcore styling or lingering. Against the murder plot, the romance reads as mild. It is just one strand in a crowded story, and never the reason to watch
Drugs / alcohol Heavy drinking and other substance use cling to the white conspirators…
Heavy drinking and other substance use cling to the white conspirators like a kind of everyday decay. The habits keep resurfacing as the story moves along. They become part of the fabric of that whole crime world
Frightening Murders are plotted in plain, ordinary rooms, which makes everyday spac…
Murders are plotted in plain, ordinary rooms, which makes everyday spaces feel quietly unsafe. The dread gathers slowly, and jump scares are almost nonexistent. If that creeping pressure starts to grind on anyone, it is fine to pause partway through
Self-harm / suicide A community under siege carries real despair and self-destruction, and…
A community under siege carries real despair and self-destruction, and a teen suicide is woven into the storyline. The emotional weather stays heavy from the opening scenes right through to the close
Child peril / abuse The killing spree touches Osage children just as it touches the adults…
The killing spree touches Osage children just as it touches the adults around them. No one draws a line that keeps the young ones safe; the danger runs through the whole community. Give younger or more sensitive viewers a heads-up before you start
Bullying / discrimination Anti-Indigenous racism is the engine behind the crimes almost from the…
Anti-Indigenous racism is the engine behind the crimes almost from the opening stretch. Characters voice it plainly and then act on it. The film keeps that prejudice sitting at the heart of everything that happens
Gore / death / weapons Guns, poison, and the aftermath of killings put blood on screen. The go…
Guns, poison, and the aftermath of killings put blood on screen. The gore is not constant from one end to the other. Even so, teens who find that kind of imagery hard will still feel these moments land
Eating disorders / body image In quieter moments, you see illness and wasting away that trace back to…
In quieter moments, you see illness and wasting away that trace back to poison as part of the crime. The framing is medical and criminal in nature, with nothing about diet culture. It only takes up a little screen time, though a teen watching will still pick up on it
Mental health Paranoia, grief, and shared community trauma stay with the survivors de…
Paranoia, grief, and shared community trauma stay with the survivors deep into the later chapters. The mood seldom brightens along the way. A calm chat at home once it ends can help settle everyone
Grief / bereavement Deaths in the family come in wave after wave, and they shape the whole…
Deaths in the family come in wave after wave, and they shape the whole Osage experience in this story. Grief is almost always somewhere in the frame. If loss feels raw in your home right now, have a word before you press play
Flashing lights We have not confirmed whether this version contains flashing lights.
We have not confirmed whether this version contains flashing lights.
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- How do greed and racism work together in this story?
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