Killers of the Flower Moon new trailer breakdown: 3 major takeaways

Martin Scorsese's upcoming crime drama, Killers of the Flower Moon, is all geared up for its theatrical release and a subsequent Apple TV+ release on October 6, 2023. The film premiered at the 75th annual Cannes Film Festival this year, earning widespread praise from viewers and critics alike. Paramount Pictures dropped the trailer for the upcoming movie on July 5, 2023.

Killers of the Flower Moon stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Ernest Burkhart, Robert De Niro as William Hale, Lily Gladstone as Mollie Burkhart, and Jesse Plemons as Tom White. Based on the 2017 non-fiction book of the same name by David Grann, Killers of the Flower Moon focuses on the murders in the Osage Nation in the 1920s following the discovery of oil.

The official synopsis by IMDb reads,

"Members of the Osage tribe in the United States are murdered under mysterious circumstances in the 1920s, sparking a major F.B.I. investigation involving J. Edgar Hoover."

Scorsese also produced the movie, along with Dan Friedkin, Daniel Lupi, and Bradley Thomas. Killers of the Flower Moon will be distributed by Apple TV+ and Paramount Pictures worldwide.

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Top 3 major takeaways from the Killers of the Flower Moon trailer

1) The first look of Robert De Niro as William Hale

Robert De Niro as William Hale (Image via Paramount Pictures/Apple TV+)

The recently released second trailer by Paramount and Apple TV+ opens with Leonardo DiCaprio trying to court Lily Gladstone. Soon after, the audience gets a look at Academy Award winner Robert De Niro's character William Hale, a member of the Osage Indian Reservation who owned the Hale Ranch and made a fortune from it.

He can be seen making efforts to instigate Leonardo DiCaprio in the opening scenes of the new trailer where he says,

"The Osage. They have the worst land possible. But they outsmarted everybody. The land had oil on it. Black gold! Money flows freely here now. This wealth should come to us. Their time is over. It's just gonna be another tragedy. You got to take back control of your home."

According to history, Hale ordered the murders of Mollie's mother, sisters, a cousin, and brother-in-law to have control of their oil rights. At the age of 80, De Niro promises a stellar performance in this $200 million project.

2) Jesse Plemons plays Tom White

Thirty-five-old Jesse Plemons, who also starred in Other People (2016) and The Power of the Dog (2021), plays Thomas Bruce White Sr. aka Tom, a BOI agent investigating Hale. This role was initially offered to Leonardo DiCaprio, but he convinced Scorsese to swap this role in order to play Burkhart.

Jesse Plemons as Tom White (Image via Paramount Pictures/Apple TV+)

In the trailer, Tom White introduces himself to Ernest Burkhart saying,

"I was sent down from Washington D.C. to see about these murders."

Tom White is seemingly the hero of the story as he had solved the mystery of the Osage murder case. The audience will find out more about the I'm Thinking of Ending Things star's role in the grand scheme of things.

3) The troubled Burkhart marriage

While the 2017 Killers of the Flower Moon novel focuses on the FBI investigation of the murders and their consequences, Scorsese spotlighted the romantic relationship between Ernest Burkhart, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, and his indigenous wife Mollie, played by Lily Gladstone.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone as Ernest and Mollie (Image via Paramount Pictures/Apple TV+)

Ernest Burkhart is thrown at the heart of the investigation as he is the nephew of William Hale. It goes without saying that Hale is the mastermind behind the mysterious murders, and that is established within the first twenty minutes of the movie. As narrated by DiCaprio,

"Can you find the wolves in this picture?"

In another shot, the audience gets to see Tom White sizing up Burkhart during a possible interrogation. The Burkharts go through rough patches in their marriage throughout, and the movie explores whether there is more to what meets the eye.

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The additional cast members include the Tantoo Cardinal, John Lithgow, Brendan Fraser, Cara Jade Myers, JaNae Collins, Jillian Dion, William Belleau, Louis Cancelmi, Tatanka Means, Michael Abbott Jr., Pat Healy, Scott Shepard, Jason Isbell and Sturgill Simpson.

Watch Killers of the Flower Moon in IMAX on October 6, 2023.