I Think Netflix Took a Look at My Fanfic Notebook Because The Harder They Fall Is My Kind of Western
We have been blessed with Black Western excellence
It’s been scientifically proven that the best way to start a trailer is with Regina King.
The Harder They Fall, an upcoming Western by director Jeymes Samuel, is set to release on Netflix this fall. I have to say, when it comes to feature film directorial debuts, I think Samuel might take the cake with “fun, stylish Western with a cast brimming with charisma.”
My bisexual ass has truly won today.
Indiewire offers this synopsis of the upcoming Netflix film:
“When outlaw Nat Love (Jonathan Majors) discovers that his enemy Rufus Buck (Idris Elba) is being released from prison he rounds up his gang to track Rufus down and seek revenge. Those riding with him in this assured, righteously new school Western include his former love Stagecoach Mary (Zazie Beetz), his right and left hand men — hot-tempered Bill Pickett (Edi Gathegi) and fast drawing Jim Beckwourth (R.J. Cyler) — and a surprising adversary-turned-ally. Rufus Buck has his own fearsome crew, including “Treacherous” Trudy Smith (Regina King) and Cherokee Bill (LaKeith Stanfield), and they are not a group that knows how to lose.”
Who am I supposed to root for here?
Seriously, am I supposed to pick a side? All of these fine-ass Black celebrity crushes in one movie and I have to choose?!
The first word that came to mind when I saw this trailer was cool. This trailer is the Black relative you look forward to seeing at the reunion, maybe an uncle or an auntie with a cheeky nickname that you grow up hearing so much that you don’t actually know what their real name is. This trailer is the Spades partner your mama wants, the one who gives your kids a dollar for every good grade on their report card (shout out to my Uncle Money), and the one who finds any excuse to grill, but you don’t mind, because they’re a BEAST on the grill.
Even its comedic bits, like Idris Elba’s slow walk through chaos after being released, exudes an insurmountable amount of swagger. Somehow, I’m laughing at how calm he is as his gang murderizes his captors, but I’m also in awe of how goddamn COOL everyone on screen is.
DO. NOT. MAKE. ME. CHOOSE. WHICH. GANG. TO. ROOT. FOR.
It’s not just a cool trailer, though. It’s fun! The music (I want the soundtrack right now please and thank you). The camera work. The fight scenes. All the actors look like they’re having a great time being in a film where you think the white guy is gonna drop the n-word because “that’s how it was back then” but he gets shot by Regina Flippin’ King.
“He might could’ve said nincompoop,” says LaKeith Stanfield’s Cherokee Bill
“We ain’t no nincompoop,” King retorts, showing us how she earned the Treacherous title in her name (Trudy Smith).
I’m gonna need a fandom to arise from this to bless us with fanart, fanfic, and cosplay. I need Black Western everything, please, and thank you.
The Harder They Fall will be streaming on Netflix. This fall, we ride.
(Image: Netflix)
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