The Power of the Dog (2021) review

The relationship between cattlemen Phil Burbank (Benedict Cumberbatch) and his brother George (Jesse Plemons) becomes strained when George marries off-kilter widow Rose (Kirsten Dunst, his real life wife) and Phil continuously mocks Rose's son Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee) for being effeminate and "not a man" (while harboring his own secrets).  The first half is a bone dry proto-Western with some sharp cinematography (by Ari Wegner) and a lot of meandering and homophobic slurs thrown around - the second part is when it morphs into a homoerotic hot house when curious Peter sees Phil bathing naked (and finds his porn stash) and the two form this unlikely bond, as Phil decides to mentor the lad and let "bygones be bygones."  It would have been better had the characters been more multi-dimensional (Dunst is defined by her drinking, Plemons by his hard work, Cumberbatch by his deeply repressed urges, etc.) and Campion been less coy - plus, I didn't find Phil to be that awful as to warrant that fate (killing your bully has to be a violation of the Hippocratic Oath, doesn't it?).