If you loved Jane Campion’s newest film The Power of The Dog, you are not alone. The Netflix movie has been awarded by several bodies including the Golden Globes, the Directors Guild of America, the BAFTAs, and many critics’ associations. And while there is still a while until Oscars night, The Power of the Dog currently stands as one of the front-runners to take the biggest award in the film industry.

The Power of the Dog is a visually stunning and emotionally poignant film that slowly builds tension to show us the tragic story of a man who cannot accept his identity and therefore terrorizes those around him. As we wrote at MovieWeb, Campion’s Oscar-worthy feature is “exquisitely crafted and framed, executed by a filmmaker at her fiercest, most razor-sharp, and unforgiving.”

So, if you are one of the many people who loved The Power of The Dog, here are a few films you might also love:

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6 The Piano

     Miramax Films

If you enjoyed Jane Campion’s directorial vision in The Power of The Dog, you cannot miss her work in The Piano. Released in 1993, the film tells the story of a mute Scottish woman who travels to a remote part of New Zealand with her young daughter after her arranged marriage to a frontiersman. The film shows Campion at her best: exquisite shots, subtle but intense storytelling, and an array of strong performances by Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Anna Paquin, and Sam Neill. With this film, Campion proved her skill at balancing the icy formalism of period pieces with the fiery interiority of female characters.

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

The Piano was a critical and commercial success, grossing $140 million worldwide against just a $7 million budget. In 1993, the film won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, making Campion the first female director to ever receive the award, and it received three Oscars: Best Actress for Hunter, Best Supporting Actress for Paquin and Best Original Screenplay for Campion. Paquin was 11 years old at the time and remains the second-youngest actor to win an Oscar.

5 Unforgiven

     Malpaso Productions

If you liked the Western elements of The Power of The Dog, you should check out Unforgiven from 1992. Directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, the film tells the story of William Munny, an aging killer who takes on one last job after being retired for many years. Interestingly, Unforgiven was supposed to be Eastwood’s last stint as a cowboy, which means that he gave a fantastic performance. But like The Power of the Dog, Unforgiven is not your typical western.

Eastwood’s film questions the stereotypical portrayals of the Wild West by subverting the violent mythology that characterized the genre during the 20th century. Rotten Tomatoes calculated a 96% approval rating for the film and its critical consensus states that “as both director and star, Clint Eastwood strips away decades of Hollywood varnish applied to the Wild West, and emerges with a series of harshly eloquent statements about the nature of violence.”

4 Brokeback Mountain

     River Road Entertainment

If you are interested in the themes of queerness and identity in The Power of The Dog, there is no better film than Brokeback Mountain. Directed by Ang Lee, this tragic story follows two sheepherders in 1960s Montana who fall in love with each other while working in a secluded mountain. Jake Gyllenhaal plays the bashful Jack Twist while Heath Ledger plays the cautious Ennis del Mar and both lovers have to battle societal and personal prejudices regarding homosexuality, as they live in a masculine-driven world of rodeos, cowboys, and violence.

Brokeback Mountainhelped queer the mainstream. Like Campion’s film, Brokeback Mountain uses a hyper-masculine backdrop to raise interesting questions about the limits of sexual orientation and the noxious effects of rigid gender norms. Ultimately, both films show how internalized homophobia leads to violence and cruelty. It is a gentle, romantic, and emotional tale set in a beautiful landscape, so it should appeal to all fans of Campion’s work.

3 There Will Be Blood

     Paramount Vantage

Paul Thomas Anderson’s film deal with themes of toxic masculinity and poisonous relationships. In There Will Be Blood, Anderson and Daniel Day-Lewis construct a fascinating character in Daniel Plainview, a domineering, aggressive alpha male who lacks empathy for the suffering of other people. Like Phil Burbank in The Power of the Dog, this character serves as a window into the soul of hyperbolic masculinity; they both show us how these kinds of behavior often mask underlying insecurities and desires. In fact, Benedict Cumberbatch compared the two films in an interview with W Magazine, where he said that “The Power of the Dog [as a Western] is closer to There Will Be Blood. It’s about a period of transition. It’s about a move from a more analog, animal, manpower-driven era into mechanization.”