'The Power of the Dog' Ending Explained: Who killed Phil? Killer leaves audience speechless
Jane Campion’s highly anticipated movie ‘The Power of the Dog’ has finally been released on Netflix and it is one of those movies that people should watch at any cost. The movie revolves around a ranch owner named Phil Burbank (Benedict Cumberbatch), who is annoying and doesn’t know what love is. He is rude and always makes people feel that they are nothing.
On the other hand, his brother George (Jesse Plemons) is a kind-hearted human being who understands feelings and emotions. He meets a widow named Rose Gordon (Kirsten Dunst) and marries her. She has a son named Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee) from her first marriage and goes to school. She comes to life on their ranch with George and this is where things get intense.
RELATED ARTICLES
'The Power of the Dog': 5 things to know about Benedict Cumberbatch's western drama
'The Power of the Dog': 5 things to know about Benedict Cumberbatch film
‘The Power of the Dog’ is a slow-paced movie and it is slow for reason. Campion gives viewers ample time to connect with the characters and feel what they are feeling in a situation. However, the ending of the movie is something that you would never expect. So, what happens at the end? Did Phil get to know what love is? Or he’s going to face something miserable?
Let’s dig in and take a look at how the movie ended.
‘The Power of the Dog’ Ending Explained: Did Peter kill Phil to save his mother?
As soon as George and Rose come to the ranch, Phil finds it annoying that she has become a part of the family. He keeps on tormenting her for unknown reasons and keeps on saying annoying things to her. Rose calls him “Brother Phil” and he says that he is not his brother and leaves the room. One day, George finds his wife a beautiful and brings it home for her so that she can play it when the governor comes to the house for dinner along with his mother and father.
Rose is really happy after seeing that and closes all the doors to practice it. While doing that, Phil comes inside the house and leaves the main door open purposely. He goes inside his room and takes out his banjo to play as soon as Rose starts to play on the piano. He does it on purpose to annoy her. Rose gets to know that and tears come into his eyes.
A few days later, Peter (McPhee) comes to live with them and gets to know that Phil is troubling his mother and that’s why she has started drinking. On the other hand, Phil mocks Peter for the way he looks and dresses. However, Phil has another side as well where we see him getting along with nature and embracing it. But things are getting worse between him and Rose. He sees Rose drinking and stealing a bottle from the backyard as well.
One day, Phil goes into the woods finds Phil’s hideout, and sees a lot of “Physical Sculptures” magazines there in which photos of naked men were present. He sees Phil taking a bath in the river, making him angry as he runs behind Peter. Surprisingly, things get better between Phil and Peter as they start a friendship. On the other hand, Rose is really worried about Peter’s friendship with Phil because he has been tormenting her. Rose’s drinking problem has gone from bad to worse.
Elsewhere, Peter takes a horse and goes uphill. He sees a cow dead there because of anthrax and experiments on him by taking out that part of the body. Back on the ranch, Rose seems to have lost her mind and sells Phil’s hides to an Indian. As soon as Phil reaches his barn, he sees the hides are gone and is furious at Rose. Peter is scared and tells him to not say anything to his mother. Phil says that he won’t say anything, but George would. In the meanwhile, Rose collapses in the field and is taken back to her room where George finds out that she has been drinking a lot. George reaches the barn and tells Phil that she is very ill. To which, Phil replies, she is addicted to alcohol and is drinking like she is dependent on it. Phil is really angry at the situation and leaves the barn.
Later that night, Phil meets Peter in the barn where Phil is completing the rope he is making for Peter. The rope will help him in riding a horse. He gets his hands inside a tub of water and makes the rope where we first get to know that Phil is actually “gay”. And there is a moment in the barn where they take the puff from the same cigarette with some love for each other in their eyes.
The following day, we see Phil being seriously ill and taken to the doctor. However, he could not be saved and died in the hospital. At the funeral, George and Phil’s mother embrace Rose and give her some jewelry which makes Rose very emotional. However, it is revealed that Phil’s death was mysterious and it is believed that he had anthrax.
The movie ends with the revelation that it was Peter who actually killed Phil as he put anthrax in the water that Phil used to make the rope. Peter did this to help his mother and wanted her to have a happy life. As soon as Phil dies, she becomes sober and is now smiling again because it was Phil who made her feel like nothing.
So, Peter came closer to Phil so that he could take his life and fill his mom’s life with happiness so that she doesn’t kill herself as his real father did. The ending will make everyone speechless because no one could have thought about it. The movie can be labeled as a revenge drama
‘The Power of the Dog’ is currently available for streaming on Netflix.