Directed and written by Jeff Nichols, The Bikeriders tells the stories of members of the Vandals Motorcycle Club, a fictional version of the real-life Outlaws Motorcycle Club.
★★★☆☆
The Bikeriders begins in 1965 when Kathy Bauer (Jodie Comer) first meets Benny Cross (Austin Butler), one of the members of Chicago’s Vandals Motorcycle Club. Recalling her first meeting with Benny—and the rest of the Vandals—and their marriage only five weeks later, Kathy goes on to narrate the origins of the club and the most important moments of its existence. The story unfolds through a series of her interviews with Danny Lyon (Mike Faist), a photography student who travelled with the Vandals and eventually published The Bikeriders, a photo book telling their story.
The film is elevated by impressive performances by all involved; both Comer and Butler shine as the complex main characters. The latter is particularly impressive, as Butler seems to finally break the mould of the Elvis persona he’s been associated with ever since the 2022 award season. By the time the film ends, Butler has achieved the perfect balance between the tough exterior that Benny is known for in the gang and a unique sensibility and emotionality that only really shines through in the final scene of the movie.
Most of the film is told through interviews as Kathy, as well as other key characters, reflects on what she knows of the Vandals while speaking to Danny. This allows The Bikeriders to jump between various time frames depending on who Danny is interviewing or which questions he decides to focus on, creating an interesting narrative structure. However, the tell rather than show approach that drives the film can easily become too exposition-heavy and uninspiring to watch. For example, at the beginning of the film Kathy tells Danny—and naturally the audience as well—the story of how the Vandals were founded. Despite being told multiple times, the viewers never learn much about the origins of the club or why it is so important to its members. This lowers the stakes of the film, as the audience has little emotional investment in something that is narrated rather than shown.
With higher stakes, new characters, and a plot that finally manages to come together, the second half of The Bikeriders is undoubtedly the most exciting one to watch. A big part of the first act, on the other hand, feels only introductory, spending a considerable amount of time establishing its main characters and their backstories and setting up for the real action of the plot. Some context is necessary for the viewers to actually care about the characters of course, but heavy-handedness makes the story drag.
Ultimately, this hurts the overall pacing of The Bikeriders. Its long shots may be beautiful to watch but can easily feel tedious and unexciting. The film moves through its entire first half too slowly: the audience can tell something is coming, but has to wait for too long to actually see it happen on screen. The film might have benefitted from a tighter pacing and more compelling editing in order to maximise the impact of its narrative.
The Verdict
The Bikeriders is a powerful film with a fascinating story, one that most of the audience won’t most likely be familiar with, and beautiful cinematography that is very close to the real-life pictures the viewers eventually see in the end credits of the film. Pacing and structural issues, though, prevent the audience from being truly immersed in every aspect of the story.
Words by Clotilde Chinnici
Support The Indiependent
We’re trying to raise £200 a month to help cover our operational costs. This includes our ‘Writer of the Month’ awards, where we recognise the amazing work produced by our contributor team. If you’ve enjoyed reading our site, we’d really appreciate it if you could donate to The Indiependent. Whether you can give £1 or £10, you’d be making a huge difference to our small team.