Bucking Fastard
2026 film by Werner Herzog
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Bucking Fastard is a 2026 drama film written and directed by Werner Herzog, and loosely based on the lives of Freda and Greta Chaplin. It stars Kate and Rooney Mara as the twin sisters Jean and Joan Holbrooke, alongside Orlando Bloom and Domhnall Gleeson in supporting roles.[1]
- Clara Wu Tsai
- Ariel Leon Isacovitch
- Agnes Chu
- Kieran Corrigan
- Emanuele Moretti
- Andrea Bucko
- Nick N Raslan
| Bucking Fastard | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Werner Herzog |
| Written by | Werner Herzog |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Peter Zeitlinger |
| Edited by | Marco Capalbo |
| Music by | Ernst Reijseger |
Production companies |
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Release date |
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Running time | 109 minutes |
| Countries |
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| Language | English |
The film had its world premiere in the main competition of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival on 3 September 2026, where it competed for the Golden Lion.[2]
Premise
Twin sisters Jean and Joan Holbrooke, in search of an imaginary land where true love is possible, start digging a tunnel through a mountain range.[3]
Cast
- Kate Mara as Jean Holbrooke
- Rooney Mara as Joan Holbrooke
- Orlando Bloom as Gareth Mulroney
- Domhnall Gleeson as Timothy
- Hugh O'Conor
Production
Referring to unrealized projects in his 1991 series Filmstunde[4] and again in his 2022 memoir Every Man for Himself and God Against All, Werner Herzog mentioned a concept called Bucking Fastard about British identical twin sisters Freda and Greta Chaplin, who gained notoriety in the 1980s for having a restraining order put on them by a man they both became involved with. The title refers to a synchronized verbal slip the sisters made in court.[5]
In February 2025, it was announced that Herzog would make a film with that name based on a true story about twins Joan and Jean, with sisters Kate and Rooney Mara to star in their first project together.[6] Of working with her sister for the first time, Kate said: "We've been looking for something to do together for a while. The first hurdle was finding a filmmaker that we both like, and while we like a lot of the same things, we both had an equal excitement about working with Werner. We're playing total equals who speak in unison and do everything the same. They dream the same in the film, and they're so in sync. We could have never imagined finding two roles in a film where we're literally equals in so many ways, and it was just so perfect."[7]
Principal photography took place in Ireland at Dublin's Pigeon House film studios and in and around the town of Naas, County Kildare; the Mara sisters were spotted during shooting on Dublin's Capel Street in early April. Additional scenes were filmed in Slovenia.[8] Filming wrapped by the end of the month,[9] with Orlando Bloom and Domhnall Gleeson also cast. Herzog reunited with various collaborators, including cinematographer Peter Zeitlinger, editor Marco Capalbo, and composer Ernst Reijseger.[3]
Release
In May 2026, Variety reported that the film was offered a world premiere at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival in the non-competitive official selection lineup, but this proposal was rejected because the film was not offered a competition slot.[10]
It had its world premiere in the main competition of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival on 3 September 2026,[2] and its North American premiere at the 53rd Telluride Film Festival.[11] It was also selected for the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival[12] and the Spotlight Gala section of the 2026 New York Film Festival.[13]
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 74% of 34 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6/10.[14] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 60 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[15]
Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian rated the film 2 out of 5 stars, writing that it "systematically wastes the audience's time, as well as the talents of its formidable female leads".[16]
Jessica Kiang of Variety called the film "occasionally sublime, often ridiculous and always extravagantly weird".[17]
Ryan Lattanzio of IndieWire gave the film a 'B+', writing that the "wryly funny, touchingly eccentric, and uncompromisingly batshit feature" would "enchant and dismay in likely equivalent proportions".[18]