Some folk keep trying to pronounce the western genre dead, but cowboys never die. There’s always some fresh, never-before-seen gunslinger story that comes to our screens and blows us away—from Clint Eastwood’s subversive Unforgiven to the Coen Brothers’ self-reflexive genre tributes.
The Harder They Fall just might be the next great, old west shoot-em’-up—with a new school cast of Hollywood’s most brilliant black action talent. The film is a Netflix original that will premiere at the BFI London Film Festival on October 6, 2021 before arriving on Netflix on November 3.
We can’t wait to see Idris Elba and Jonathon Majors face off as long-time enemies, especially when their posses include Regina King, Zazie Beetz, Lakeith Stanfield, Edi Gathegi, R.J. Cyler, Damon Wayans Jr., and the magnetic Delroy Lindo.
That’s a killer lineup, making it very difficult to tell from the trailer below just who we should be rooting for. Elba, by now one of Netflix‘s most dependable stars, is shown escaping from a train vault with King’s assistance: but Majors shoots a priest in cold blood. Who amongst these badasses are the heroes, and who are the villains? And does it matter, when all of their duelling looks this damn good?
Elba promises “no mercy”, but we can also expect a ton of fun, flavour, and colour—the cinematography seems gorgeously vibrant, with swooping, sweeping shots of Majors fanging it across the desert on a horse, and Beetz racking a shotgun.
Netflix‘s ludicrously stacked slate of 2021 entertainment has all been leading up to the release of movies like this, and The Harder They Fall could be the streaming service’s most entertaining releases yet. Pull your best boots on and get scootin’ over to Netflix, y’all: it’s going to be a bloodbath worth watching.
