The Bikeriders is based on Danny Lyon’s photobook on the culture of the 1960s Vandals Motorcycle Club, a fictional depiction of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club. The story charts the activism of this outsider community – its leadership battles, its bike-related music, its organized rides, and its back-country races. There are gatherings where cyclists meet to fix up their bikes and socialize with each other.
Key events in the Vandals’ history are told through interviews with Kathy (Jodie Comer), who is drawn to the James Dean-like figure of Benny (Austin Butler). After they marry, she spends a lot of time with the guys, observing the subtle but persistent changes in their relationships and roles. When their leader, Johnny (Tom Hardy), allows new chapters to be organized outside of Chicago, he sets the stage for challenges to his leadership. He’d like to pass on his post to Benny, but he declines. Meanwhile “The Kid” from Milwaukee has other ideas for how the club should operate. What was a club of recreational riding becomes crudely competitive and violent.
Writer and director Jeff Nichols does a convincing job conveying the yearning these outsiders have toward life on the open road and the dangers and risks that come with it. The bikeriders demonstrate a deep need for belonging, which was common in the 1960s counterculture. And the film ably demonstrates how community can be disrupted by societal changes outside their control.