Why “Killers of the Flower Moon” Is Still Stuck in My Head — And Why You Should Watch It

I’ve been wanting to launch a weekly space where I can talk about the movies and shows that stay with me long after the credits roll. This isn’t meant to be a traditional review column—I'm not here to rate films as “good” or “bad,” or criticize other filmmakers. Instead, I want to explore what moves me, what raises questions, and what keeps me thinking days later. Most of the titles I’ll talk about are ones I genuinely enjoyed, because I have zero interest in jumping online just to be negative.

So for the first installment, it feels fitting to start with a film that has lingered with me more than almost anything I’ve watched recently: Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon.

The timing couldn’t be better—I'm writing this on the day the Oscar nominations were announced, and Killers of the Flower Moon earned several major nods: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Lily Gladstone), and Best Supporting Actor (Robert De Niro). Leonardo DiCaprio, who I personally think delivered a deeply nuanced performance, was noticeably snubbed. More on that in a moment.

The Story That Sparked a Week of Conversations

If you haven’t seen it, the film is based on the true story of the Osage murders in 1920s Oklahoma. When oil was discovered on Osage Nation land, members of the tribe began turning up dead under suspicious circumstances, leading the FBI to investigate.

It’s a sprawling, three-and-a-half-hour epic, but for me, not a second of it dragged. In fact, there were moments I wanted to breathe longer inside the story.

A lot of people say the movie is “too long.”
My honest question back is:

What would you cut?

The film covers years of real history—political corruption, systemic exploitation, family dynamics, and the psychological unraveling of its characters. As someone who has spent years in editing and script development, I can’t find a storyline I’d comfortably remove. If anything, I wanted more time with certain threads.