Oscars 2022: Every Best Picture Nominee Ranked

Surely this year's Best Picture frontrunner, Jane Campion's masterful western drama The Power of the Dog is her finest work since 1993's The Piano. The story of a controlling rancher who terrorises his brother's new family, the film is one of big reveals and shocking ambiguity.

Gorgeously shot by cinematographer Ari Wagner and hauntingly patient with every one of its deadly reveals, the real treat here is the cast, all of whom come together to bring their character's burning conflicts to life without flaw.

But the work of Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst and Kodi Smit-McPhee isn't all that The Power of the Dog has up its sleeve: Its quiet assessments of masculinity and control are what keep its characters twisting around each other, working off one-another to create mysteries not easily explained.

Of all the nominees this year, The Power of the Dog is the most beautiful and gripping, and it will take a big shock for it to be beaten to the top prize.