‘Hell or High Water,’ a 2016 neo-western small-town heist drama, received widespread critical acclaim for its atmospheric exploration of the storey of two brothers living on the edge.
The independent film, directed by David Mackenzie, follows brothers Toby and Tanner as they embark on a heist to save their family ranch from a bank.
They intend to walk into the sunset with the money and the oil and live a better life.
Rangers Marcus Hamilton (Jeff Bridges) and Alberto Parker, on the other hand, become roadblocks to the brother’s bombastic plan.
Due to its dark mood, breathtaking photography, and ominous characterization, the film received considerable critical and popular acclaim after its debut.
You might want to know if the ode to small-town Texas is based on a true storey now that the violence and grime have been removed.
If that’s the case, please don’t read the newspapers.
Is Hell or High Water (2016) Movie A True Story?
‘Hell or High Water’ movie isn’t based on a true story, to be sure. Even with its complex characters, events, and fatalities, the story is imaginative, even if it appears natural.
The story rings universally when set against the modern backdrop of a dying town with crippling mortgages.
The film was directed by David Mackenzie of ‘Perfect Sense‘ fame, and it was based on an original screenplay by Taylor Sheridan.
After the region in the American Southwest, Taylor Sheridan named the storey ‘Comancheria.’
The film was shot in New Mexico and is set in West Texas. Because the author is from East Texas, the name makes sense.
The name change was the result of a title competition among interns at one of the production companies.
However, as the title suggests, the storey may be more personal to the author than you might think.
Following his debut authored film, ‘Sicario,’ Sheridan wrote ‘Hell or High Water.’ ‘Hell or High Water,’ on the other hand, was sold earlier, after earning the best Black List script award in 2012.
In the writer’s canon, the film is the second episode of “the modern-day American Frontier” trilogy.
The author was looking into the demise of a particular way of life in Texas. The ramifications of Texas’ mortgage meltdown also drew his attention.
Sheridan was visiting the hometown of Pulitzer Prize-winning Texan novelist Larry McMurtry in Archer City when the debt crisis reached its nadir.
Sheridan was inspired by the feeling of abandonment in the town, which led to the creation of the heist film.
Sheridan had envisioned a buddy road movie with elements of an old-school robbery thriller.
The best movies, according to Sheridan, give moviegoers a thrill while the stories linger for days or weeks.
The thematic trilogy regarding the pillage of Indian reservations was finished in 2017 with Sheridan’s own film ‘Wind River.’
None of the films have a discernible framework, and they all tread on the morally ambiguous territory.
There are no heroes or villains in any of them. Sheridan never went to film school. With acting stints on shows like ‘Veronica Mars‘ and ‘Sons of Anarchy,’ he learned screenwriting.
Making a good script, according to Sheridan, is all about defying stereotypes. As a result, while the story may not be based on true events, the writer’s keen understanding of the socio-economic landscape of small-town West Texas is evident in the film.
