Two recent movies brilliantly evoke the disastrous and deadly consequences of the stupid belief systems
that are imposed on everyone.
“The Power of the Dog” is a 2021 neo-western directed by Jane Campion. The film, set in 1925 Montana, follows the destiny of the two Burbank brothers who together operate one of the most successful ranches in the state. The eldest, Phil (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) who is a brilliant, tough and ultra-virile man, terrorizes everyone around him, including his younger brother George (played by Jesse Plemons) who is gentle and sensitive.
From this open-air prison that is their huge ranch, George nevertheless manages to escape by courting Rose (played by Kirsten Dunst), a widow, mother of an effeminate teenager, Peter (carried by Kodi Smit-McPhee). George and Rose get married and come to live on the ranch, much to the chagrin of Phil, who is constantly harassing and brutalizing Rose, who is often left alone with her bully.
Her son Peter, who is studying medicine in town, comes for the holidays at the ranch, only to discover that his mother has become depressed and alcoholic under the influence of Phil, who does not hesitate to now harass the young man. However, a strangely close and uneasy relationship will bind the virile Phil and the precious Peter.
The character of Phil is reminiscent of the American figure of the celluloid cowboy embodied by John Wayne in the 1950s and 1960s, but he presents a dark version of him, twisted and misguided by a system of social beliefs which destroys more humanity than it constructs it.
“The Wonder”, directed by Sebastian Lelio in 2022, takes place in 1862 in Ireland. The film follows the destinies of Elizabeth (Florence Pugh) and Anna (Kila Lord Cassidy). Elizabeth, who is an English nurse, is sent to an Ireland still traumatized by the Great Famine, in order to monitor Anna, who is 9 years old and who has refused to eat for four months. Elizabeth must check day after day if the child is not actually ingesting any food and demystify the phenomenon. But in this small isolated village in Ireland, Elizabeth, who is skeptic because of her scientific background, quickly faces the religious fanaticism of the family and certain villagers who would like to see Anna’s fast as the accomplishment of a miracle.
“The Wonder” evokes the very real phenomenon of the “fasting girls”, which certainly had Catherine of Siena as its tutelary figure during the Renaissance period, but which experienced a resurgence in the United Kingdom of the Victorian era.
The long-term fast was lived in homage to the sufferings of Jesus during the Passion (hence the Latin name of “anorexia mirabilis” or English of “holy anorexia”) but often caused the death of very young girls because of malnutrition. The case of Sarah Jacobs in Wales, who died of starvation, even led to the conviction of her parents for manslaughter.
Without revealing anything about the astonishing outcome of the two movies, their similarities are obvious in several ways.
First of all, the two films share the same director of photography, the talented Ari Wegner, and the aesthetic beauty of these two cinematic gems is absolutely dazzling.
Second, the story arcs of both films are set in wild, desert and overwhelming lands. The mountains of Montana (which are in real life those of New Zealand) of “The Power of the Dog” and the Irish moors of “The Wonder” perfectly illustrate the untamed, indomitable and violent Nature where isolated humans who want to survive are inclined to live by fallacious and even deadly belief systems.
Which brings us to the third point of similarity. In both movies, certain protagonists only live and survive emotionally thanks to erroneous, false, toxic and even dangerous beliefs.
Phil, the ruthless cowboy from “The Power of the Dog” believes he has to forge an ultra-manly personality to be respected but this emotional armor takes his human integrity away.
Little Anna, her mother and some notables of the Irish village of “The Wonder” also cling to beliefs which, they think, light up their poor lives by insisting on seeing Anna’s anorexia as a religious miracle. Anna is as detached from herself as Phil is.
It’s easy for the modern viewers of “The Power of the Dog” and “The Wonder” to spot the absurdity and dangerousness of the sterile belief systems to which these protagonists of past eras submit. Violent and toxic ultra-masculinity may have faded over the decades, religious fanaticism may no longer prosper as much as before, but the attentive viewer will still wonder what systems of sterile beliefs every one submits today.
Monoprix dress – Miu Miu sunglasses – Dior belt – Repetto flat shoes which are now dead because of the rocks – A Dior bathing suit you cannot see as I wear it under the dress
July 11, 2025
