The outlaw spirit beckons in ‘The Bikeriders’
The wild and reckless outlaw spirit of the open road beckons in Jeff Nichols’ furious crime-drama The Bikeriders, which follows the growth of an outlaw motorcycle and how the actions and choices of those at the heart of it affect all around them.
Watch the brand-new trailer for The Bikeriders here:
Here’s the official synopsis:
Kathy (Jodie Comer), a strong-willed member of the Vandals who is married to a wild, reckless bikerider named Benny (Austin Butler), recounts the Vandals’ evolution over the course of a decade, beginning as a local club of outsiders united by good times, rumbling bikes, and respect for their strong, steady leader Johnny (Tom Hardy).
Over the years, Kathy tries her best to navigate her husband’s untamed nature and his allegiance to Johnny, with whom she feels she must compete for Benny’s attention. As life in the Vandals gets more dangerous, and the club threatens to become a more sinister gang, Kathy, Benny and Johnny are forced to make choices about their loyalty to the club and to each other.
Adapted from the seminal photo book by journalist Danny Lyon, which charted the rise of the Outlaws MC in Chicago during the 1960s, The Bikeriders follows the rise of the Vandals, a mid-western motorcycle club that starts off as a collection point for a group of outsider bike lovers which soon turns into a dark and sister force. At its heart this is a story of three people Kathy (Comer), Benny (Butler) and Johnny (Hardy), and The Bikeriders is set to be an intense and dramatic watch for audiences.
With The Rolling Stones thumping rock track ‘Heartbreaker’ at its centre, this new trailer for The Bikeriders explodes like a Harley-Davidson running at 200 miles an hour. And it promises a hell of a watch. With Jodie Comer’s Kathy as the film’s narrator, Nichols crafts a film that is masculine and brutal in its narrative structure, and he plays off the brotherhood that is shared between Austin Butler’s Benny and Tom Hardy’s Johnny.
Butler is the rebel heartthrob with his James Dean bad boy swagger down cold as Johnny, and which draws him to Comer’s lost and impressionable Kathy. Benny is quick to anger and up for a scrap, and his focus is directed by the calculating, and intimidating leader of the Vandals, Johnny. Tom Hardy taps into his inner Brando for his role as Johnny, and he soon begins to take the club in a darker, more criminal direction that could spell doom for all of them.
Nichols is a filmmaker who, time and time again, with works like Mud, Midnight Special and Loving, has shown that he can craft amazing American hinterland drama, and The Bikeriders is a tale of the classic Americana outlaw spirit. There’s a cowboy edge to this picture, and it will end up being a wild ride for audiences.
Brace yourself for a rush when The Bikeriders arrives in cinemas on December 2.
Image: 20th Century Studios
