Having not read the book that Killers of the Flower Moon is based on, I can’t say conclusively that the movie would have worked better if it had also told the story from the Federal Agent’s perspective. I suspect that it would have, because all criminal investigations have a natural propulsive quality to them that pull you in. True crime stories are addictive because viewers want to experience the thrill of the investigation and hopefully see justice served in the end. The problem Scorsese and co-writer Eric Roth reportedly had with using that structure is that it would have relegated the Osage to the periphery and placed white men as the central figures of the story (as both villains and heroes). However, in placing Mollie and the Osage at the center of the events, the story loses nearly all of its dramatic tension as a result. The movie explains who the bad guys are, what they are doing and why from very early on, and the story unfolds from there without any real surprises to it. The audience is asked to witness each killing (or mysterious death) until the federal agents eventually arrive to put a stop to things at the two hour mark.
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