Forget ‘Sicario,’ Taylor Sheridan’s Western Is a Masterpiece From Start to Finish
Taylor Sheridan’s 2016 film *Hell or High Water* is presented as a stronger showcase of his writing than *Sicario*, the hit that first brought him wider attention. Its portrait of two brothers driven to rob banks to save their family ranch combines crime suspense with questions about economic hardship, family and a changing rural America.
Ben Foster and Chris Pine play Tanner and Toby Howard, whose robberies target the Texas Midlands Bank, while Jeff Bridges’s near-retirement Texas Ranger pursues them. The story gives the brothers morally complicated motives and follows the personal stakes for both Toby and Ranger Marcus Hamilton; Bridges’s performance earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
In short
- *Hell or High Water* is argued to be Sheridan’s finest film.
- Two brothers rob the bank threatening their family ranch.
- Jeff Bridges’s Texas Ranger brings personal stakes to the chase.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The case for the film as Sheridan’s stronger showcase is that it joins a tightly paced crime story to a vivid account of economic pressure, family loyalty and a changing rural America. Its morally complicated brothers and the parallel personal stakes of Ranger Hamilton give the suspense emotional depth, while Jeff Bridges’s Oscar-nominated performance strengthens the drama.
The case against
A thoughtful case for preferring Sicario is that its taut thriller structure and morally fraught view of violence may show Sheridan’s writing at its sharpest. Hell or High Water’s focus on the brothers’ hardship and family ties may feel less formally ambitious, and its sympathy for their motives could be seen as softening the consequences of their robberies.
Explained simply
Taylor Sheridan wrote Hell or High Water, a 2016 crime drama set in rural Texas. It follows brothers Tanner and Toby Howard, who rob branches of the Texas Midlands Bank as they try to save their family ranch.
Ben Foster and Chris Pine play the brothers, while Jeff Bridges plays Marcus Hamilton, a Texas Ranger nearing retirement who pursues them. The film’s stakes reach beyond the robberies: it links the family’s struggle to keep its land with economic pressure and changes in rural life, while showing the personal costs of the chase for both the brothers and the ranger.
Art Celebrity Culture Entertainment