
Kodi Smit-McPhee walks all plaid for his press looks at the 2021 Telluride Film Festival in Telluride, Colorado, during Labor Day weekend.
The 25-year-old Australian actor was in town to promote his new film, Netflix’s Jane Campion-directed The Power of Dog, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival worldwide for a four-minute standing ovation. Kodi is having awards season thanks to his incredible performances and co-stars with Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons and Thomasin Mackenzie.
Here’s what the top critics are saying about Kodi‘s sensitive portrayal of aspiring doctor Peter:
The Hollywood Reporter: “The result is bound to be one of the fall’s most talked-about performances, a prospect somewhat daunting to Smit-McPhee…”
Vanity Fair: “Peter, who’s played with startling, mesmerizing assurance by Kodi Smit-McPhee…”
Variety: “[Kirsten Dunst’s] co-stars Kodi Smit-McPhee and real-life partner Jesse Plemons are exquisite in their parts, and interestingly divide their time in the film accordingly, with Plemons heavier in the first half and McPhee taking charge in the latter.”
Indiewire: “Compellingly expressed through Smit-McPhee’s reedy self-assurance (whose take on the character seems to stem from Savage’s description that “no one could close a door more quietly than he”), Peter’s desire is the mystery at the center of a rivetingly tense movie that screws tight like a Patricia Highsmith thriller without forsaking its Western splendor.”
Awards Watch: “THE POWER OF THE DOG is such an elegiac mood piece… Benedict Cumberbatch and Kodi Smit-McPhee were standouts.”
Dave Karger: “My 2021 Telluride awards: Best Supporting Actor: Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Power of the Dog”
Tomris Laffly: “Kodi Smit-McPhee, who will absolutely blow your mind in THE POWER OF THE DOG. (Check him out in SLOW WEST first, if you haven’t seen it already.)”
FYI: During Kodi’s first day at Telluride Press, he wore a white and blue plaid H&M top, CSNV T-shirt, Levi’s jeans, Puma shoes, Milamore earrings/necklace, and a Hirotaka ring. The other day, he wore a gold and black plaid AllSaints buttondown, a COS turtleneck, Levi’s jeans, Dr. Martens shoes, Milamore earrings, Emanuele Bicocchi hexagon ring, and other Hirotaka jewelry. During the last day of press, Kodi wore a matching black and gray IRO Paris top, Levi’s jeans, Kenneth Cole boots, Emanuele Bichocchi necklace and braided ring, and an earring/other ring from Martyre.