Taking inspiration in equal parts from Marlon Brando’s The Wild One and photo-journalist Danny Lyon’s oft-imitated 1968 photo collection ‘The Bikeriders’, director Jeff Nichols’ (Mud, Take Shelter, Loving) takes us to 1960’s Chicago.
The Vandals – a motorcycle club whose membership includes reluctant leader Johnny (Tom Hardy – Peaky Blinders, Taboo, Dunkirk, Mad Max Fury Road), Benny (Elvis’ Austin Butler), and Zipco (Michael Shannon – Knives Out) – evolves from being where local misfits and outsiders can forge a sense of belonging, into something decidedly more sinister as the decade begins to darken in the shadow of the Vietnam War.
The beating heart of the film is Kathy (Jodie Comer – Killing Eve), Benny’s girlfriend, who gives us a rivetting insider’s perspective of the gang’s rise and fall – providing an emotionally rich balance to the biker machismo. A phenomenal cast, with ravishing ’60s period detail, brings us a thrilling antidote to the usual summer-spandex blockbuster fare.
Music fans should keep an eye out for Will ‘Bonnie Prince Billy’ Oldham behind a bar too…