The Bikeriders review: "This absorbing study of a Chicago motorcycle crew thrums with Scorsese-isms"

The Bikeriders had its European premiere at the BFI London Film Festival. Here's our review... 

"As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a biker…" Ok, nobody actually says that line in Jeff Nichols’ absorbing study of a Chicago motorcycle crew living their lives on two wheels at the tailpipe of the 1960s. Yet someone may as well do, given how much his latest echoes Goodfellas. The Take Shelter/Midnight Special director plumps for a voiceover-driven, subculture-scrutinizing approach that thrums with Scorsese-isms (check out those nostalgia-laden needle drops!) from its freeze-frame opening onwards.

Yet while the style seems familiar, the material feels fresh: a testament not only to how Nichols lovingly crafts a fictional story around the photos Danny Lyon took for his seminal 1968 book The Bikeriders, but also to the flesh his actors put on the bones of the archetypes who populate it. 

Tom Hardy for one has rarely been broodier as leader of the pack Johnny, a king of the road who rules the roost over his boozing, brawling acolytes with a stern but benevolent hand. Elvis star Austin Butler, meanwhile, is quiet soulfulness personified as Benny. A softly spoken loner, Benny talks with his fists and seemingly only has to bat his eyes at the initially censorious Kathy (Jodie Comer) to make her his pillion plus-one for life.

Comer does most of the narrating in this chronicle of the Vandal club’s rise and fall, in a broad Midwestern accent some may find grating. But that’s the only false note in a yarn that otherwise exudes authenticity, from the metal stallions its characters take onto the highway to the dirt-smeared denims they love to wear. 

Amid a rich ensemble, Nichols regular Michael Shannon is a stand-out as Zipco, a scary-eyed wild one with a virulent hatred of "pinkos". Yet even he gets upstaged when Norman Reedus arrives as Sonny, a filth-encrusted hellion whose appearance signals the point that the gang’s noble code starts to get contaminated by trouble-making newcomers.

Lyon himself (Mike Faist) is a peripheral figure, only there to take snaps and record Kathy and others on his clunky reel-to-reel. His images are rightly given their due, though. Take the memorable scene where bikers form a solemn guard of honor at one of their number’s funeral: a visual that serves as a moving encapsulation of their camaraderie and solidarity. 

The Bikeriders is released in US and UK cinemas on June 21. For more upcoming movies, here are all the 2023 movie release dates on the way.