Synopsis
Recorded Q&A with star Kodi Smit-McPhee, recipient of the Golden Key for Emerging Talent.
Entertainment Weekly calls Jane Campion’s new neo-noir Western a “master class in sustained dread, sublimated feeling, and toxic masculinity.” It stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Jesse Plemons as cattle-ranching brothers in mid-1920s Montana. Tension erupts when Plemons’ George takes a wife – a local widow (Kirsten Dunst) with a college-age son (Kodi Smit-McPhee). Longtime Campion fans will note geographical and thematic affinities with the director’s now-classic drama “The Piano,” as well as films like “There Will Be Blood” (Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood supplies the score here, as well). The film also is an occasion to honor Smit-McPhee, who will receive the inaugural Golden Key Award for Breakthrough Actor.
The Australian performer won international acclaim early on for his portrayals of sensitive yet worldly young men. He won the 2007 AFI Award for Best Young Actor for his debut in “Romulus, My Father,” and then impressed American audiences as Viggo Mortensen’s son in John Hillcoat’s gripping action-drama “The Road.” Next, he landed the coveted role of a bullied boy who finds friendship with a child vampire in “Let Me In.” Smit-McPhee will appear in a post-screening conversation pre-recorded with IndieWire chief editor Eric Kohn.