'The Bikeriders' Was Based on This Wild Real-Life Motorcycle Club (2024)

Ever since his breakthrough feature Shotgun Stories, Jeff Nichols has been a filmmaker interested in authentic depictions of the human condition. Whether it's the brutal coming-of-age story of Mud, the intimate historical romance of Loving, the subversive superhero mythology of Midnight Special, or the disaster themes of Take Shelter, Nichols is able to take extraordinary premises and ground them in legitimate emotional stakes. Nichols’ latest feature, The Bikeriders, is a rip-roaring throwback to classic “fight the system” films like Easy Rider and Rebel Without a Cause, focusing on a defiant motorcycle group in the 1960s. Although it's a film that shows the extent of Nichols’ imagination, The Bikeriders was loosely inspired by real accounts of the 1960s.

The story of The Bikeriders is one that Nichols has been passionate about telling for years. According to Michael Shannon, the director had “mentioned it in a bar in Memphis when we were shooting” a short film, and had been developing the earliest story outlines for nearly a decade. The Bikeriders takes its title from a 1967 photo book by Danny Lyons, which chronicled the trials and tribulations of the Outlaws MC biker gang. While influential, Lyons’ book did not provide any direct parallels to Nichols’ film; TheBikeriders is still classified as a wholly “original” work by the WGA. However, the story of The Bikeriders has a lot in common with the real Outlaws MC motorcycle club.

The Bikeriders

R

Drama

Crime

See Also

Which Red Lobsters are still open? Here's every location in all 44 statesTroubleshoot problems with Microsoft AuthenticatorLooking Back at r/Place

410

Follows the rise of a midwestern motorcycle club as it evolves over the course of a decade - from a gathering place for local outsiders into a more sinister gang, threatening the original group's way of life.

Release Date

June 21, 2024

Director

Jeff Nichols

Cast

Jodie Comer , Austin Butler , Tom Hardy , Michael Shannon , Mike Faist , Norman Reedus

Runtime

116 Minutes

What Is 'The Bikeriders' About?

Set in the 1960s, The Bikeriders explores the rise of the Vandals MC, a motorcycle club that emerged in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. The young rebel Benny (Austin Butler) becomes a powerful member of the group, helping his friend Johnny (Tom Hardy) become its de facto leader. However, a split occurs as the two men begin to go their separate ways. While Benny falls in love with Kathy (Jodie Comer), Johnny begins to get the gang involved with various organized crime syndicates. As the crew grows more dangerous, Benny is forced to choose where his loyalties lie, as potentially becoming the new leader of the Vandals could mean giving up all hopes of having a normal family life.

One of the key framing devices in The Bikeriders is an interview conducted by a fictionalized version of Lyon, portrayed by Challengers breakout star Mike Faist. Even though Nichols’ characters are original, the interview segments in The Bikeriders draw from the real work that Lyon did to understand the motorcycle gang. Nichols revealed that he was impressed by Lyon’s interviews, and “placed them throughout” the script. However, he also stated that the process of trying to “take words and images and somehow add them together, to give you a feeling of nostalgia” was “hard to do.”

While Nichols certainly managed to create some of the most iconic images of Lyons’ book in a compelling way, The Bikeriders plays on the fact that it's a subjective retelling of events. Since the entire film is told in flashback from Kathy’s perspective, it's suggested that she may be willfully misleading Lyon at points, and sometimes outright masking the truth. This may explain why The Bikeriders don't dive too deeply into the darker activities that the Vandals participated in. The film celebrates the communal experience that came from a group of friendly motorcycle enthusiasts gathering together for social events. It only briefly touches on the rise in Chicago’s violence at the tail end of the 1960s, and the Vandals’ involvement with a series of mafia-related crimes.

What Happened to the Real Outlaw MC?

Nichols certainly crafts an endearing portrayal of the Vandals, but the true story of the Outlaw MC is much darker than anything in The Bikeriders. The Outlaw MC was first founded in McCook, Illinois in 1935, and stands as one of the nation’s oldest motorcycle clubs. John Davis led the group during its inception phase before World War II led to a brief decline in the club’s activities, as many of its members were either enlisted or drafted for combat. However, the Outlaw MC grew in popularity in the immediate aftermath, attending a rally in Soldier Field in 1946. After relocating to the South Side of Chicago in the 1950s, the Outlaw MC began merging its membership with former rivals, including the Cult biker club of Voorheesville, New York, the Gypsy Outlaws from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the Gypsy Raiders in Louisville, Kentucky. It was during this period that the real Lyon spent four years living alongside the club and learning about their way of life.

Sadly, the original intentions of the Outlaw MC became compromised in the 1970s when its membership became dominated by a faction of more violent, rambunctious bikers who were interested in performing hits for the Chicago outfit. Davis was later ousted from his leadership position and killed for refusing to take the club in this direction. Tensions escalated when the Outlaw MC developed a brutal rivalry with the Hells Angels group from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. After the Hells Angels declared war on the Outlaw MC in 1975, the feud escalated, resulting in multiple casualties on both sides. Today, the Outlaw MC is officially designated as a criminal organization by the United States Department of Justice.

'The Bikeriders' Analyzes American Cultural Shifts

Accuracy may not have been Nichols' priority, but The Bikeriders acutely analyzes the cultural shifts in America in the aftermath of World War II. Many young men sought the same fellowship that military soldiers had in the army, and formed social groups that celebrated their similar interests. The Bikeriders shows the anti-establishment movement in America that became more dominant in the 1960s. Due to a series of political controversies and the ongoing Vietnam conflict, many American men grew less idealized by the notion of their government’s intentions. Despite the nasty direction they end up going, the Vandals in The Bikeriders are initially intent on simply spending time with like-minded people.

The Bikeriders is in theaters now.

Get Tickets