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One of cinema's titans, Martin Scorsese returns with Killers of the Flower Moon, a sensational three- and-a-half-hour true-crime epic that pairs, finally, two of his most beloved actors. The reunion of Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, some 30 years after they acted together in Michael Caton-Jones' This Boy's Life, is clearly a huge draw, but they are only part of the enormous tapestry that Scorsese weaves as this historical drama unfolds. 

Adapted by Scorsese and Eric Roth (Forrest Gump) from David Grann's best-selling account, the film deals with a shocking series of murders that took place in the Native American community in Oklahoma in the 1920s. The reason is clear from the film's very beginning, as members of the Osage tribe strike oil on the land they've been given.

As Scorsese shows men erupting in joy alongside spurting geysers, it might be the last time in this story that such happiness rains down. 

DiCaprio plays Ernest, a veteran of World War I, who returns to his home in Fairfax, Osage County, after the conflict. This impressionable young man is urged by his uncle, Bill "King" Hale (De Niro) to marry Mollie Burkhart (Lily Gladstone), a member of the oil-rich Osage community. A powerful and respected local, Hale presents himself as a friend to the Osage, although the truth is rather more complex. 

When Mollie's mother dies of a mystery illness, it's just the first in an increasingly disturbing chain of events, as the valuable land becomes a target for interested parties. As the bodies pile up, the authorities shockingly ignore the obvious until Mollie takes the plight of the Osage to the heart of government. Her trip to Washington D.C. eventually brings federal agent and former Texas ranger Tom White (Jesse Plemons) to Fairfax to investigate. 

Despite the film's length, Killers Of The Flower Moon never makes you feel its running time. Aided by the supreme cutting of Scorsese's longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker, the pacing is note-perfect, drawing you into this world from a century ago.

Composer Robbie Robertson, a veteran Scorsese collaborator, sadly passed away in August but he did some of his best work here, with a blues-and- percussion-influenced score that helps to set the rich atmosphere.

Watching DiCaprio and De Niro act together – their first ever Scorsese feature film collaboration – feels special, two of the finest actors of their respective generations circling each other like prizefighters in the ring.

But there's so much more in Killers... when it comes to performances. Just when you think the film can't give you anything more, John Lithgow and Brendan Fraser, fresh off his Oscar win for The Whale, inject real energy into the final act, as Scorsese turns to courtroom dramatics. 

The real star, though, is Gladstone, who has made her name to date in Kelly Reichardt films First Cow and Certain Women. Here, she's simply splendid as Mollie, who wades through grief and more in the face of unimaginable horror. Beautifully captured by cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto (who shot The Wolf Of Wall Street), hers is one of the great performances you'll see this year.

Production designer Jack Fisk also dresses this film to perfection, bringing a lot of his experience working with Terrence Malick to bear.

This feels like a late-career masterpiece from Scorsese. They truly don't make 'em like this any more.   James Mottram

Lily Gladstone's first exposure to Martin Scorsese's work was with 1997's Kundun, about the life of the Dalai Lama. "There are a lot of parallels you can draw between American Indians and disenfranchised, displaced Tibetans," she notes. 

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Killers of the Flower Moon is in cinemas from 20 October — Book Now!