Sightlines · reception
How The Power of the Dog was received
2021 · Jane Campion · The Power of the Dog on Sightlines
The arc
Landed at Venice 2021 as an instant critics' darling (Campion took the directing prize) while half the audience called it slow and plotless; then it led the Oscars with 12 nominations and won just one — and losing Best Picture to CODA has only grown into a 'the Academy got it wrong' talking point since.
What’s debated
The eternal split: is it a coiled, note-perfect masterpiece or a beautifully shot film where 'nothing happens' — with the CODA upset relitigated every awards season.
Its footprint
Its biggest cultural moment came off-screen: Sam Elliott's podcast rant dismissing the film's 'allusions to homosexuality' and its cowboys' chaps, and Jane Campion's cool 'he's not a cowboy, he's an actor' reply, became defining awards-season discourse — Elliott later apologized.
Where it stands
A canon climber: the modern revisionist-western touchstone that made Campion the first woman nominated twice for Best Director, and a fixture of 'they gave Best Picture to the wrong film' lists.
Did you know? Benedict Cumberbatch stayed in character as Phil between takes and chain-smoked filterless roll-ups so committedly that he gave himself nicotine poisoning three times during the shoot.