Martin Scorsese 93% Rotten Tomatoes Award Winner Still A Favorite On Apple TV+

By Britta DeVore | Published

martin scorsese

A New York City native, Martin Scorsese has long drawn inspiration for his films from the underbelly of the Big Apple and other cities, where organized crime syndicates run things from the shadows. His movies like Goodfellas, Gangs of New York, and The Departed reflect this grittiness, and through his art, the director successfully transports audiences to different times. Taking a break from that specific set of crime skills, Scorsese most recently helmed the 10-time Academy Award-nominated film Killers of the Flower Moon, which, even nearly a year after its release, is still dominating the chart on Apple TV+, where you can watch it today.

Reunited With His Best Stars

Scorsese reunited with two of his most frequent collaborators, Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro to create Killers of the Flower Moon. However, many would agree that the standout performance comes from Lily Gladstone, who, although she had previously appeared in numerous other films and TV shows, fully stepped into her fame through her performance in the historical drama. 

Spotlighting A Dark Event In American History

Killers of the Flower Moon is based on David Grann’s 2017 non-fiction book titled Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI. Winding the clock back to the 1920s, a story of crime, greed, and a lust for power plays out in Oklahoma after the Osage Nation strikes oil on their land. Driven by a desire for riches and control, a local man named William King Hale (Robert De Niro) finds a way to work his way in with the indigenous people and get his hands on some of that oil money.

Hale is seen as a friend to many of the Osage members and helps other local non-Osage men work their way into fortune by marrying into the tribe. Throughout Killers of the Flower Moon, audiences watch as DiCaprio’s Ernest woos and marries Gladstone’s Mollie. Although their love seems like the real deal, a few bumps along the way will make viewers question Ernest’s true intentions with his wife. 

Stars Want To Work With Scorsese

For many, working with Martin Scorsese marks a major milestone in their careers, knowing that – at least in a sense – they’ve made it. Along with DiCaprio, De Niro, and Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon featured a knock-out ensemble that included performances from Jesse Plemons (Civil War), John Lithgow (Dexter), Brendan Fraser (The Whale), and Tantoo Cardinal (Dances with Wolves).

An Award-Winning Future Classic

Along with helming the feature, Scorsese also co-penned the script with the legendary Eric Roth who holds credits as a scribe on such titles as Dune: Part One, A Star Is Born, Ali, Forrest Gump, and many more.

A huge hit at the award circuit, Killers of the Flower Moon was up for 10 Academy Awards which included Best Picture and Best Director, it also nabbed nine BAFTA nominations, 12 Critics’ Choice Award nods, and seven Golden Globes, with Lily Gladstone taking home one of the latter for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama. 

Only Streaming On AppleTV

robert de niro

Despite its critical acclaim, Killers of the Flower Moon was largely a bust at the box office, making $157 million, which wasn’t nearly enough to cover its production cost of $200-215 million. Part of the reason folks weren’t super inclined to see it in cinemas could be due to its wildly long run time of three and a half hours. Luckily, you can now watch the movie from the comfort of your own home – with pause as an option – as the feature is now available on Apple TV+.

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