Before The Harder They Fall, Check Out The Prequel Starring Michael K. Williams
Tidal
By Shania Russell/Oct. 21, 2021 5:25 pm EST
Netflix
Naturally, when the time came for Jeymes Samuel’s first feature, he had to continue the good work of revitalizing Westerns. With “The Harder They Fall,” Samuel assembles Black historical figures like they’re the Avengers. The film’s characters — Rufus Buck (Idris Elba), Nat Love (Jonathan Majors), “Treacherous” Trudy Smith (Regina King), “Stagecoach” Mary Fields (Zazie Beetz), “Cherokee” Bill (LaKeith Stanfield), and Bass Reeves (Delroy Lindo) — were all real living, breathing historical figures. These Black cowboys, so rarely seen on screen, earned their place in history. But in truth, they lived in various times through the 19th century, with no proof that they ever met one another. There’s no evidence that Nat Love and Rufus Buck ever crossed paths, but the film traces a decades-long vendetta between the pair. But “The Harder They Fall” is no biopic — it need not make historical sense. As Samuel puts it best, at the start of the film, “While the events of this story are fictional … These. People. Existed.”
“The Harder They Fall” arrives in select theaters on October 22, 2021, and will be available to stream on Netflix starting November 3, 2021.
