If I had a nickel for every time Benedict Cumberbatch has played a closeted gay asshole in a film, I'd have two nickels. That was my pitiful excuse of an introduction for a film that is hard to explain without spoiling much of the plot. And as I try to never spoil the plot, I am left with little of substance to actually talk about. But I will try. The main two characters of this film, Phil and Peter, are meant to be alike in many ways which connect with the central themes of the film. I really do like this theme, of society's expectations towering over someone constantly, and the reactions that different kinds of people have to this pressure. The characters of Phil and Peter are very interesting to analyze and think about, but they're not that fun to watch. In fact, the entire film isn't very fun to watch. I understand the concept of movie's not needing to be 'fun' to be a good film, and I am a large proponent of this idea. However, there is such a thing as a film being bad because it is too slow and lacks proper communication. The communication aspect is especially important, because if the audience doesn't understand what is happening on screen, the movie will not be able to convey any messaging or drama about said happenings. This is a problem that The Power of the Dog has in spades, unfortunately. The actually extremely captivating character arc of Peter is explained poorly through the mediums of the film. There were times in which I had no idea what was going through his head, and this problem because even worse during the actual important, dramatic scenes near the end. Even now, I question how well his choices and decisions line up with the Peter the audience was supposed to be familiar with 2 hours in. The psycological rammifications of Peter's actions are extremely disturbing, and are something that I thought the movie would go more in-depth with, but no. I had no idea what his plan was until he executed it, and I have no idea what he felt about it afterwards. This is most definitely an interesting film, with even more interesting characters to talk about and psychoanalyze, however it's just not that entertaining or captivating while actually watching. I would have loved to see the minds of Phil and Peter picked apart even more, especially Peter, but oh well.