Since Jeff Nichols hadn't made a film since 2016's Loving, and he had been on a bit of a hot streak, I was highly anticipating his return.
The film is inspired by a book of the same name by a photojournalist who followed the fledgling biker club from the late 60s to the early 70s.
It's interesting to call it a "club" because...well... that's what it was. All these years later, we know Biker Gangs. Clubs are a bit different. When Johnny (Tom Hardy) started getting the bikers together in organized events, it was just guys with similar interests racing each other, talking about their passions, and trying to one-up each other.
Still, at one point, as the movie is picking up steam, one of the older riders, Brucie, muses about what people see when they look at the kind of men who ride -- dirty and dangerous. Brucie is somewhat mystified himself because he's not dangerous. Still, he has an insight regarding things to come.
Most of the film follows the relationship between one of Johnny's friends Benny (Austin Butler) and his wife Kathy (Jodie Cormer), and the clash of lifestyles. Kathy is really the lens through which the audience sees the biker lifestyle, and how it changes.
As the club expands beyond a closely vetted group of friends, Johnny's hold becomes threatened. Since the men who need to ride are naturally seduced by danger, it's only natural that more dangerous men are attracted. Conflict arises and conflict among hardened men is rarely solved with any code of honor for long.
This is a film that was made with the right talent in the right roles. The cast is top notch. Jeff Nichols has yet to miss (at least in my book).
Really, I think that part of the reason why it took Nichols eight years to put this on screen is that it's about everyone who loves something enough to die for that looks absurd to everyone else. At some point, a great many of us have to have a moment of reflection as to why we do what we do and love what we love even if nobody understands and we can't explain it. Bikerideing is something that still looks unreasonable to those of us on the outside.
Of all the crazy passions that men can have, the bikeriders are among the most interesting creatures to examine in order to understand our own crazy passions a bit better.