‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Star Lily Gladstone Says Film May Trigger ‘A Lot Of Generational Grief To Process’
Killers of the Flower Moon star Lily Gladstone took to her X account (formerly Twitter) on Thursday to address the film’s potentially triggering scenes some Indigenous peoples may experience when watching the brutal Osage murders depicted on screen.
“The most pressing thing I’ve wanted to say about Killers of the Flower Moon, especially to Native Women & Youth: See it when and only if you feel ready, and see it with people you feel safe with,” Gladstone wrote. “You’ll likely have a lot of generational grief to process. You’re not alone.”
Gladstone — who co-stars in the latest Martin Scorsese film alongside Leonardo DiCaprio — went on to share resources of where Indigenous peoples can go if they need extra support, such as the StrongHearts Native Helpline, the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, and the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women.
Gladstone’s post comes over two weeks after Reservation Dogs star Devery Jacobs took to social media herself, calling Killers of the Flower Moon “painful, grueling, unrelenting, and unnecessarily graphic,” further saying it was “fucking hellfire” to watch.
“Imagine the worst atrocities committed against [your] ancestors, then having to sit thru a movie explicitly filled [with] them, [with] the only respite being 30min long scenes of murderous white guys talking about/planning the killings,” Jacobs wrote. “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.”
Jacobs lauded the Osage people who worked on the film, but said that she “would prefer to see a $200 million movie from an Osage filmmaker telling this history, any day of the week.”
As Gladstone further wrote on the film in her thread Friday: “I’m so proud of the film we made with so many Osage Nation leaders, artists, educators & community advocates. Never forget this story is recent history with a lasting impact on breathing, feeling people today.”
“It belongs to them, & we all have so much to learn from it,” she continued. “In this process of learning about the horrific Reign of Terror, remember that the Osage remain. Native People remain. And this story is a lot to take in. Be kind, and please be gentle with each other. There is much to process, and much to heal.”