The Bikeriders (2024)

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Rugged biker gangs, wearing patched-up greaser jackets, convening in derelict, smokey bars aptly named “The Bad Part of Town” have been cultural staples and synonymous with classic Americana since the 1950s. Unfortunately, this group has seen much of its original roots forgotten within the greater cultural zeitgeist, only showing up in modern times as stereotypical thugs or militant roughnecks. The Bikeriders, based on Danny Lyon’s 1968 photo book of the same name, and filmmaker Jeff Nichols (Mud, Loving), aims to rectify this oversight. In a complex yet crude exploration into the often misrepresented subculture, the film largely succeeds in showcasing the real working-class men behind the colors.

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The Bikeriders follows a group of bikers in Midwest named The Vandals, based on an actual motorcycle club, The Chicago Outlaws. Led by their enigmatic but honorable leader, Johnny, played authentically by consistently excellent Tom Hardy, we watch a club organically formed to bring community to a group of outcasts slowly morph into a beast all its own.

Jodie Comer, playing Kathy and our outside eye to the club’s varied members, narrates the events that transpire during this pivotal time, lending a tangible sense of sincerity and relatability to an otherwise crass group of individuals. The film’s core lies within the Vandals and its colorful cast of characters, where many of its best performances can be found.

From Jeff Nichols’ long-time collaborator and friend Micheal Shannon to the I-was-born-to-play-a-biker-in-everything TV (and videogame) star Norman Reedus, their expertise lends a certain humanity to these rugged individuals that serve as the thesis of the film.

Yet I would be remiss not to mention the film’s titular character of Benny, played by Austin Butler, doing his best Clint Eastwood impersonation to varying degrees of success, who, within a movie that cares so deeply for the inner lives of these outwardly brash men, seems to skip that beat when it comes to his characterization. More of an enigma than a man, Benny appears only to represent the perfect ideal of a biker, with his first lines being “You’d have to kill me to get this jacket off” before getting into a surprisingly brutal bar fight. While this can work in short bursts and has Austin Butler giving some of his best one-liners to date, when it comes to his romance with Kathy, serving as the emotional throughline of the story, the film suffers from this noticeable lack of humanization in its more intimate moments.

This issue appears again with the interviewer character, Danny Lyon, played by Mike Faist and based on the photographer of the same name, who serves as a central plot device as the story is told through interviews he conducted with the motorcycle club. Taking place over the eight years between 1965 and 1973, Danny has very little impact on the narrative, serving only as a plot device to explain the scattered timeline that jumps from year to year. His documentation and exploration of The Vandals and motorcycle club culture as a whole leaves much to be desired as his character is noticeably absent from many of the film’s crucial plot elements.

Overall, The Bikeriders is a love letter to a bygone era, with a crushingly honest ending demonstrating Jeff Nichols’ care and understanding when discussing this storied subculture. Coupled with solid performances from the likes of Tom Hardy and Austin Butler elevating some of the film’s most important scenes, The Bikeriders is an intense deep dive into a cultural relic so often misunderstood that it deserves to be seen on those merits alone.