The Bikeriders is a 2023 American crime drama film written and directed by Jeff Nichols. The film stars Jodie Comer, Austin Butler, Tom Hardy, Michael Shannon, Mike Faist, Boyd Holbrook, Damon Herriman, Beau Knapp, Emory Cohen, Karl Glusman, Toby Wallace, and Norman Reedus. Its plot, inspired by the photo-book of the same name by Danny Lyon, depicts the lives of the Vandals Motorcycle Club, a fictional version of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club.
The Bikeriders premiered at the 50th Telluride Film Festival
on August 31, 2023, and was released in the United States on June 21,
2024. Originally scheduled to be released theatrically in the United
States on December 1, 2023, by 20th Century Studios, the release was delayed due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Ultimately, Focus Features acquired the film rights from producer New Regency. The film received positive reception and grossed $32.6 million worldwide.
Plot
In 1965, Kathy Bauer meets Benny Cross, a hotheaded member of the Chicago-based Vandals Motorcycle Club, and marries him just five weeks later. Photography student Danny Lyon
travels with and interviews the Vandals. He learns from Kathy that the
founder, Johnny Davis, was supposedly inspired to create the club after
watching Marlon Brando in The Wild One.
Johnny's leadership is challenged when he rebuffs a Vandal's suggestion
that new chapters be allowed to form. They engage in a fist fight which
Johnny wins; he reestablishes his authority but grants permission to
expand the club anyway. New chapters begin to form across the Midwest.
In 1969, Benny is attacked by two men in a bar for wearing his colors.
His foot is nearly severed by a shovel during the altercation. Johnny
forces the owner to provide the names of the men, and orders the Vandals
to burn down the bar. While Benny is recovering from surgery, Johnny
pressures him to come to a motorcycle rally
before he is fully healed, to Kathy's objection. Johnny offers Benny
leadership of the club when he steps down, but Benny rejects it.
A 20-year-old delinquent known as "the Kid" asks Johnny to allow
him and his motorcycle club to join the Vandals. Johnny initially
dismisses them, but decides to test the Kid by allowing only him to
join. When he expresses willingness to abandon his friends, Johnny
rejects him. The Kid attacks Johnny with a knife, who beats him and
warns him to not come back.
In 1973, Lyon interviews Kathy about the fate of the Vandals. She
explains that Johnny became despondent after the death of his
lieutenant Brucie in a vehicular accident, and the club grew
increasingly violent after drug-addicted Vietnam War
veterans joined the ranks. At a party, longtime member Cockroach is
beaten by new members when he drunkenly expresses a desire to leave the
club to become a motorcycle police officer. Kathy is nearly raped while
Benny is busy taking Cockroach to the hospital; she is narrowly rescued
by Johnny. Furious that Benny wasn't at the party to protect her, she
demands Benny quit the Vandals. Instead, he leaves her for several days.
To allow Cockroach to safely leave the club, Johnny takes Benny to
stage a break-in at his house, where they shoot him non-fatally in the
leg. Perturbed by the increasing violence of the club and again
rejecting Johnny's offer of leadership, Benny quits and leaves Chicago
for parts unknown.
The Kid, now a member of the Vandals Milwaukee
chapter, challenges Johnny to a knife fight for leadership, only to
shoot and kill him. Kathy explains to Lyon that after the Kid took over
the Vandals, they became a large criminal gang involved in drug trafficking and murder. The older members either fell in line, left to obtain legitimate jobs, or died.
Benny, upon learning of Johnny's death, returns home and breaks down. He and Kathy relocate to Florida
where Benny works as a mechanic and has stopped riding motorcycles.
Kathy tells Lyon that they are happy, and Benny doesn't miss the biker
lifestyle. She looks out the window at Benny, who smiles as the sounds
of motorcycles are heard.
