Is Phil Gay In Power Of The Dog?

The Power of the Dog is a slow-burning story about the secrets a family can hide from each other, and one of the most closely guarded secrets in the movie is the sexuality of Benedict Cumberbatch’s character, Phil. The Oscar-winning Netflix western moves at a carefully plotted pace without holding the hands of its viewers, and leaves some aspects of the film open to interpretation. The actors also give very complex performances—particularly Cumberbatch as Phil and Kodi Smit-McPhee as Peter—that may leave some confused as to the true nature of the characters’ motivations.

Taking place in 1925, The Power of the Dog tells the story of the Burbank brothers, who own a ranch in Montana. When Phil’s brother George (Jesse Plemons) meets and marries the widowed owner of an inn (Plemons’ real life wife, Kirsten Dunst), the ultra-masculine Phil doesn’t take well to his sister-in-law or her delicate son from a previous marriage, Peter. But Phil changes his colors after awhile and begins to teach Peter how to live a rougher life on the ranch, taking the seemingly gentle young man under his wing.

The Power of the Dog never uses explicit sexual terminology in regards to its characters, leaving viewers to interpret the subtle queues of the actors for themselves. Although the movie may require multiple viewings to unpack its layers, Oscar-nominated director Jane Campion left several clues behind to indicate that Phil’s outer masculinity covers up a secret. A key scene, some careful dialogue, and Phil’s sudden desire to strike up a friendship with Peter show that Cumberbatch’s character is gay.

Early on in The Power of the Dog, Phil talks with great admiration about a man named Bronco Henry. Henry was a mentor to both Phil and George, teaching them the important tricks of ranch living prior to his death. Although Phil’s friends seem to accept his remembrance of Henry simply as reverence for a former teacher, Phil spends a sexually charged scene alone in a meadow with a scarf embroidered with Bronco Henry’s initials. Later, Peter finds a stash of magazines near the meadow which feature muscular, shirtless men. These scenes clue the audience into the fact that Phil’s aggressiveness is meant to mask his sexuality and the loneliness he feels in a time in which homosexuality was disapproved of.

Based on this scene and the dialogue regarding Bronco Henry, it becomes apparent that Phil sees Peter as someone with whom he might be able to build a similar mentor/mentee relationship. Despite the disapproval of Rose, Peter’s mother whom Phil has driven to alcoholism with his bullying, the two begin to spend a lot of time together. He teaches Peter many of the things he learned from Bronco Henry, culminating in a promise that he would show Peter how to make a rope from animal hide. Phil begins to see Peter as a confidant and a kindred spirit, allowing the sinister events of The Power of the Dog’s conclusion to unfold.

When Peter reveals that he skinned a cow and kept its hide, claiming he wanted to be like Phil, the latter is obviously moved. Although things never get more physical between the two than a brief embrace shortly after Peter tells Phil about the hide, Cumberbatch has imbued the character with a restraint that makes it seem like Phil wants more. All of these subtle elements of The Power of the Dog come together to prove that Phil is secretly gay, even though it is never explicitly confirmed.

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