Many of the scenes in director David Mackenzie‘s 2016 film ‘Hell or High Water‘ appear to take place in a post-apocalyptic world. Sun-scorched fields that seem to produce nothing but clouds of dust. The deserted roads where from time to time billboards appear about loans and debt payments. But especially heroes who behave like all restrictions of morality or law and order no longer apply. And yet this is the Texas of the years after the 2008 economic crisis (it might as well be the 2000 one or the 2021 one). The landscape is real and populated by people. People who are forced to do anything (this is one of the meanings of the title) to survive the apocalypse caused by other people and their institutions – in this case banks.
‘Hell and High Water‘ can be seen as both a western or as a movie about cops chasing bank robbers. It has many of the attributes of these genres and the Texas landscape suits them perfectly. The heroes of the film are two brothers whose lives took the path of the “bad boys”. The older brother, Tanner, has just been released from prison and is often the victim of bouts of violence. Younger brother Toby is after of a divorce that has estranged his wife and two boys. The brothers’ mother has recently died, and the farm she has left is in danger of being lost to a bank due to default on the mortgage. To keep their farm, the two resort to robbing the local branches of the bank that made them the loan. They steal at gunpoint only the money from the drawers (small bills that cannot be traced) and they also find a way to launder money at casinos. The plan seems to work for a while, until two policemen begin to understand their profile and methods, and until the violent instincts of the older brother can no longer be contained.
‘Hell or High Water‘ continues the line of several American films whose stories take place in the center of America today, among people hit by economic crises and marginalized by the way the capitalist economy works. What gives quality to this film is the excellent understanding of the social environment and the humanity of the characters that are brought to the screen. Every detail is excellently presented and filmed with empathy and expressiveness: the Texas landscapes with endless roads and plains covered in dust and industrial ruins, gas stations and restaurants, banks and small towns that don’t seem to have changed much from the Wild West era with except for cars, not too luxurious either. Watching Jeff Bridges in his maturity roles is a delight and the role of police officer Marcus Hamilton suits him perfectly. The two brothers are excellently played by Chris Pine and Ben Foster. The smaller roles also provide the opportunity for some memorable performances, the most notable being that of Kristin K. Berg as a waitress whom the two brothers meet in a restaurant on the road and who will play an important role in their destiny. Each of these small roles and the extras appearances radiate authenticity, the characters seem to be the people we meet in everyday life, they build a human puzzle that fits perfectly into the social and natural landscapes. British director David Mackenzie‘s understanding of American atmosphere and social issues is remarkable. I noticed him first in ‘Perfect Sense‘, a film made in 2011 that predicted the global pandemic and dressed it in a powerful metaphor. ‘Hell or High Water‘ brings to the screen a well-written story with real characters and problems we understand. It will stay, I think, as a document about the crises of the first decades of 21st century America. It won three Academy Awards, and that was, in my opinion, one of the years when the Academy didn’t get it too wrong.