‘The Harder They Fall’ Is The First Netflix Original All-Black Western [Trailer]

The first three words that appear at the start of the new Netflix Original movie The Harder They Fall is “These. People. Existed.” The story is fictional, but director Jeymes Samuel wants you to know that it is based on real people. Meanwhile, the story is about black cowboys and families living in the Old West, something that Hollywood hasn’t really covered.

Netflix Original movie The Harder They Fall

The Netflix Original movie The Harder They Fall is directed by Jeymes Samuel, who fell in love with Westerns as a child growing up in the UK. However, this is a different Western – one that reveals the Black cowboys and families that lived in the Old West. Meanwhile, the soundtrack for the movie is modern. In fact, international music star Jay-Z is involved as one of the producers of the movie.

Samuel told the BBC that he hates the phrase “Black cinema and Black Film.” His reasoning is that when a movie is directed by Steven Spielberg and stars Audrey Hepburn and Richard Dreyfuss [Always 1989] it is not a white movie. The director added that “there’s no white cinema, there’s no black cinema” and that “cinema is cinema.”

Samuel went on to say that every time you put people of color in a Western, they are considered slaves. He added that each time a woman appears in a period piece or Western, they are always “super-subservient.” According to Jeymes, at some point, you have to do something about this and call attention to it.

Samuel closed, saying that it is not a black film, it is a movie for everyone to enjoy. However, he did add that it is a predominantly black cast, telling the story of how they lived.

Plot of the Netflix Original all-black Western

The Netflix Original movie The Harder They Fall follows the story of two rival gangs. One side is led by Nat Love (Jonathan Majors) and the other by Rufus Buck (Idris Elba). The start of the movie offers a flashback to Love as a child where Buck murders his parents in front of him at the dinner table.

Love is hell-bent on revenge and later in life hears that Buck’s crew is breaking him out of prison. He decides to track him down and get the revenge he has been waiting for. According to the BBC, this leads to two hours of very entertaining, but extremely violent cinema, as both gangs know how to fight.

Who stars in The Harder They Fall?

Jonathan Majors stars as Nat Love, an outlaw seeking justice for a terrible wrong he suffered as a child. Meanwhile, Idris Elba plays Rufus Buck, Love’s greatest enemy. One outstanding member of the cast is Oscar-winning actor Regina King, who plays the role of another outlaw, Gertrude “Treacherous Trudy” Smith.

According to the official IMDb page, other cast members include Chase Dillon as young Nat and DeWanda Wise as Eleanor Love. Julio Cesar Cedillo stars as Jesus Cortez. Meanwhile, Manny Rubio is in the role of Father Esparza and Edi Gathegi as Bill Pickett. Damon Wayans, Jr. stars as Monroe Grimes, while Woody McClain is Clyde Grimes and more.

Trailer and release date

The action-packed trailer for the Netflix Original movie The Harder They Fall is included here.

Meanwhile, The Harder They Fall is already out on theater release and will drop on Netflix on November 2, 2021.