Revenge tales and the Western genre go hand in hand. Netflix knows this, as does they’re all-seeing content algorithm – hence the release of its slick, stylistic, star-studded Western The Harder They Fall directed by Jeymes Samuel (AKA The Bullitts), which pits the captivating Idris Elba against Lovecraft Country’s Jonathan Majors.
When notorious outlaw – Nat Love (portrayed by Jonathan Majors) – discovers his sworn enemy, the very man who gunned down his parents over two decades ago – Rufus Black (portrayed by Idris Elba) – is getting out of jail, the former rounds up his gang for a healthy serving of revenge on the latter.
Love is joined in this “righteously new-school Western” by the likes of his former love Stagecoach Mary (portrayed by Zazie Beetz), his lieutenants hot-tempered Bill Pickett (portrayed by Edi Gathegi) and the fast-drawing Jim Beckwourth (portrayed by RJ Cycler), along with a “surprising adversary-turned-ally.”
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But Rufus Buck isn’t exactly going to take his lumps lying down. Assembling his own fearsome crew comprised of “Treacherous” Trudy Smith (portrayed by Regina King) and Cherokee Bill (portrayed by LaKeith Stanfield), they’re not a group that knows how to lose – and they intend to play for keeps in the forthcoming showdown.
In addition to making his feature-length directorial debut, Samuel has co-written the screenplay for The Harder They Fall with seasoned scribe Boaz Yakin (Remember The Titans). The production has also been guided by a consortium of diverse talents: the one and only Jay-Z, James Lassiter (Ali, The Pursuit of Happyness), and longtime Quentin Tarantino collaborator Lawrence Bender. Bender is best known for working on such cinematic classics as Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill: Volume 1 & 2, Inglorious Basterds, as well as other non-Tarantino titles such as Good Will Hunting, Hacksaw Ridge, and Capone.
For the time being, The Harder They Fall does not have a set release date, all we know is that it’s hitting the Netflix streaming queue towards the last quarter of 2021 – watch the first trailer above.
