Circle Cinema Sees High Demand For 'Killers Of The Flower Moon' Showtimes

The highly anticipated film 'Killers of the Flower Moon' is hitting the big screen Friday at movie theaters nationwide.

"There has just been so much interest and excitement in this film, I think, since it was first announced," Ryan Thomas with Circle Cinema said. "We were getting calls like, when are you going to be showing it, when are you going to be showing it, so we are finally glad it is here."

Berryhill High School brought students in its Indian Education Program and AP English classes to the theater to watch the film.

"We just felt that it was important for our students to know accurate Oklahoma history," said educator, Brigitte Postoak.

Killers of the Flower Moon was shot in Oklahoma and is based on a book by the same name that documents the true story of murders in the Osage Nation in the 1920s.

Jordis Ross, a junior at Berryhill High School said she read the book in AP English class.

"Prior to reading the book, I have never heard of this event," Jordis said. "It is tragic, and it should never have happened, but to be ignored so much through American history and everything, it is really important that we are learning about this in school."

Her class is now watching the film together and will write a reflection essay to each share their perspectives.

"I am excited to see it put into a film because we read the book and I could really imagine it in my head, but seeing how it will be interpreted and really shown to the world I think is going to be really cool to see today," Ross added.

Postoak is Muscogee Creek and Seminole - a neighbor to the Osage. She said the story of what happened to them a century ago still makes her emotional.

"All of our tribes here in Oklahoma have gone through pretty traumatic experiences throughout the years, so we can all relate when it comes to that," she said.

Killers of the Flower Moon is a dark part of Oklahoma's history; however, Ross and Postoak agree it is important to watch the film not only for Oklahomans but the world, too.

"I think it is really nice that they are doing the movie and that it is going to reach a lot of people and show how badly some Native Americans were treated and how greatly they were ignored," Ross continued saying, "I think it really will help especially with Leonardo DiCaprio being such a big actor."

"As sad as it is, it is pretty amazing to have it on a worldwide platform," Postoak added. "I would say, as Native Americans, we have come a long way in the Hollywood world."

For more than a hundred years, people have been going to movie theaters for entertainment.

Thomas said, "There is just something really magic about, once the lights come down in the theater and the film starts, everyone is just sitting there seeing it all at the same time."

Circle Cinema is Tulsa's only independent, nonprofit theater. Thomas said it has outlasted other classic movie houses by showing films with a local connection, like Killers of the Flower Moon.

"Movies like this is really why we are here as a theater to provide that kind of connective tissue to either the culture, the land, or the history of the state," he added.

Tickets for Killers of the Flower Moon are selling out at Circle Cinema. Thomas urges viewers to get them ahead of time online here.

He said more showings will continue to be added in the coming weeks.