Jodie Comer, Austin Butler, And Tom Hardy Hit The Road In The Trailer For Festival Darling The Bikeriders

It sure feels like it's tougher and tougher to get everyone on the same page these days, but there still remains a few hard-earned truths left in this cynical old world. For one thing, Jeff Nichols is one of the most interesting filmmakers around after directing features such as "Shotgun Stories," "Take Shelter," "Mud," "Midnight Special," and more. Secondly, movie lovers simply can't get enough of actors as charismatic as Jodie Comer, Michael Shannon, Austin Butler, and Mike Faist. Finally, and most importantly, if you put Tom Hardy in your movie, he's going to find a way to do an outrageously silly accent that you may or may not have to strain your ears to understand.

Put all that together and you come close to discovering the appeal of "The Bikeriders," the upcoming drama about (what else?) members of a motorcycle club that soon transforms into a violent gang. Nichols has actually been talking about this project for quite some time now, mentioning to /Film back in 2018, "There are just a lot of things that intimidate me about it, but I truly hope one day I'll get my s*** together and do that. It's there. It's a very pitchable idea. I hope one day to just drill down on it and actually finally commit some time to it." Well, that day has finally arrived. Fresh off its debut at this year's Telluride Film Festival, 20th Century Studios has now released the official trailer for the movie and it sure looks like a must-see. Check it out below!

What person hasn't looked at a prototypical "bad boy" and thought that they'd end up being the one to change him for the better? When that guy looks like Austin Butler and rides a cool motorcycle and has a dangerously explosive dynamic with his bike club leader, well, you can understand why Jodie Comer's character finds herself in such a predicament in "The Bikeriders." In Jeff Nichols' extremely capable hands, this story that could've felt like a poor man's "Sons of Anarchy" riff feels every inch as compelling as the filmmaker intended.

Written and directed by Nichols, the movie is marketed as a fictional story that's nonetheless inspired by a 1968 photobook by photographer Danny Lyon titled "The Bikeriders." If the high praise coming out of Telluride wasn't enough to convince you to give this movie a chance, then surely the ensemble cast will. It stars Butler as the "wild, reckless bikerider" Benny, Comer as his wife and fellow member of the Vandals bike club Kathy, and Tom Hardy as the head of the Vandals named Johnny. Joining them for the ride: Jeff Nichols regular Michael Shannon, "West Side Story" breakout Mike Faist, Boyd Holbrook, Norman Reedus, and more.

The film, which boasts the fact that much of the cast "did their own riding on an array of period-correct bikes," will next screen at the London Film Festival in October before coming Stateside for its award-friendly theatrical release on December 1, 2023.