‘Reservation Dogs’ Star Devery Jacobs Slams ‘Killers of the Flower Moon,’ Says Film ‘Further Dehumanizes Our People’

Just Jared
'Reservation Dogs' Star Devery Jacobs Slams 'Killers of the Flower Moon,' Says Film 'Further Dehumanizes Our People'

Devery Jacobs is sharing her thoughts on Martin Scorsese‘s new movie Killers of the Flower Moon, which recounts the murders of indigenous Osage tribe members in 1920s Oklahoma.

While the film, based on David Grann‘s novel, has received widespread critical acclaim for its storytelling and technical achievements, many members of the indigenous community, including Devery, have objected to its portrayal of Osage people.

The 30-year-old Canadian actress who starred in Hulu’s hit series Reservation Dogs, took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to express her displeasure with Killers of the Flower Moon‘s excessive violence and one-dimensional portrait of indigenous people.

Keep reading to find out more…

Devery began, “I HAVE THOUGHTS. I HAVE STRONG FEELINGS. This film was painful, grueling, unrelenting and unnecessarily graphic.”

She continued, “Being Native, watching this movie was f***ing hellfire. Imagine the worst atrocities committed against yr ancestors, then having to sit thru a movie explicitly filled w/ them, w/ the only respite being 30min long scenes of murderous white guys talking about/planning the killings.”

Devery praised Lily Gladstone‘s performance and Martin‘s technical direction, but criticized how the film’s “painfully underwritten” Osage characters took a backseat to white men who were “given way more courtesy and depth.”

She added, “I don’t feel that these very real people were shown honor or dignity in the horrific portrayal of their deaths. Contrarily, I believe that by showing more murdered Native women on screen, it normalizes the violence committed against us and further dehumanizes our people.”

The actress acknowledged the Osage community members involved in the film and reflected on “how cathartic it is to have these stories and histories finally acknowledged, especially on such a prestigious platform like this film.”

Devery then emphasized that she would have rather seen an Osage filmmaker take on the project and pointed out that Killers of the Flower Moon exemplifies “the issue when non-Native directors are given the liberty to tell our stories; they center the white perspective and focus on Native people’s pain.”

In addition to the movie itself, Devery took issue to its reception from filmgoers, many of whom have applauded Martin‘s screenplay.

“And to top it off; to see the way that film nerds are celebrating and eating this shit up? It makes my stomach hurt,” she wrote. “I can’t believe it needs to be said, but Indig ppl exist beyond our grief, trauma & atrocities. Our pride for being Native, our languages, cultures, joy & love are way more interesting & humanizing than showing the horrors white men inflicted on us.”

She concluded, “All in all, after 100 years of the way Indigenous communities have been portrayed in film, is this really the representation we needed?”

Find out if Killers of the Flower Moon has an end credits scene.

Read Devery Jacobs’ full thread below…