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Burning rubber across the screen this week at The Tryon Theatre is “The Bikeriders,” a gripping and gritty period piece examining the fiercely loyal subculture of motorcycle clubs, specifically, the Vandals. 

The Vandals were a very real club in the Chicago area during the 1960s and the subject of much legal and journalistic scrutiny. Their reputation for violence and criminality preceded the thunderous roar of their engines. “The Bikeriders” is written and directed by the wonderfully talented Jeff Nichols, whose capacity for crafting complex and human characters is obvious in all his work and exemplified in this new film. 

Breathing life into Nichols’ characters is an incredible cast of compelling actors, all of whom disappear into their roles amidst clouds of cigarette smoke and rough beards. Leading this talented collection are Tom Hardy, Austin Butler, and Jody Comer. Hardy, in all typical swagger and gruff delivery, is the Vandals’ charismatic but enigmatic leader, Johnny, a man with the conviction to walk his talk and inspire others to do the same. Butler inhabits Benny, the club’s new favorite son, as dashing as he is daring, full of dangerous potential and passionate temper. Comer plays Kathy, Benny’s love and the film’s narrative anchor; her character’s reflective conversations about the Vandals with a journalist form the film’s narrative backbone. 

At the outset of the film, “The Bikeriders” introduces the Vandals early in their conception and formation, full of hope and ideology. The 1960s found Americans of all classes embracing a new era, one in which the conformity of the 1950s was being challenged and new lifestyle alternatives proposed. All manner of subcultures took public form, their divergence from and opposition to the status quo providing new platforms for the voiceless and allowing a sense of belonging to so many who had felt themselves apart from the American Dream. 

Both historically and narratively, the Vandals began as a haven for well-intended but nonetheless rough and rowdy outsiders of its territory. The club was a family for those who felt disenfranchised from society, and the early leadership possessed vision and scope; the code of their club was clearly espoused and rigorously self-enforced. However, as the years wore on and new voices began to influence the culture of the club, a maddening descent into organized crime and senseless egotistical violence consumed this fraternity.  

“The Bikeriders” is a serious film, telling a mature and complicated story of a contained culture, tracing its enrapturing evolution and devastating devolution. This film certainly possesses thrills, both vehicular and violent, but packages such entertainment amongst deeper and more thoughtful themes, an analog for the appeal of the club itself. The artistic cohesion of Nichols’ direction achieves an immersively dreamlike quality to the period setting, placing us in the thick of the Vandals’ experience while also feeling a voyeur to its sensationally tumultuous nature. 

For any adult filmgoer in search of a rewardingly constructed film, “The Bikeriders” is more than deserving of your attention. And for any such attendee desiring a cathartic ride on the wild side, even if only for a couple of hours of runtime, this film will surely scratch that itch. We hope to share all the hum of the engines with you soon!