“There must be a better world out there […| there must be love somewhere […] a place for us somewhere.”

Following the world premiere of his documentary about ghost elephants at the Venice Film Festival in 2025, Werner Herzog comes back this year to premiere — in competition — his new feature film, Bucking Fastard. 

If you aren’t aware of this information — although I think people should know by now  — Herzog’s newest drama is inspired by real-life twin sisters, Greta and Freda Chaplin. Something I’m glad I did, and I do believe anyone should do before watching this film, is to watch the short documentary A Pair of One (1987), directed by Juliet Darling, as part of “Short stories” for Channel 4. 

The first thing I had to say after I finished the documentary is: fascinating. I don’t have a twin; therefore, I will never understand this oh-so-special bond, but I’ve witnessed how some people — who happen to be twins interact with one another, and I know there is something strong, something almost indescribable between them. But watching Greta and Freda Chaplin is witnessing a bond that’s on another level. 

The Chaplin twins — like the majority of twins — grew up very close to each other. However, it is not every day you see two siblings so dependent on one another that they basically become one — as if they were trapped in one mind — never developing their own personalities. When watching Darling’s documentary — who decided to do it because of the notoriety the sisters gained in the 1980’s after being subjected to a lot of press because of their ‘strange behaviours’ in court — you can see Greta and Freda dressing alike (everything must be identical to the smalled details, even buttons on a coat), talking in unison, and even trying to walk in step. And although nothing really explained those behaviours — apart from the fact that they become even closer after dropping out of school at the age of 15 and spending all their time at home like recluses — telepathic communication seemed to be the number one explanation for the extreme closeness between identical twins, including the Chaplins — which science now attributes to extreme familiarity and shared brain development.

But beneath the quirks lay two deeply wounded and sad women whose only dream was to find a place where they belonged and to feel loved — after being abandoned by their own parents and rejected by [most of] the world. 

Just like the documentary, Werner Herzog’s Bucking Fastard is nothing short of fascinating. And what I consider — from what I know about the Chaplin twins — to be a pretty faithful portrayal of those two arcane women. From the moment the film opened and the Mara sisters started talking in unison, chills ran through my whole body. 

In Bucking Fastard, Freda and Greta Chaplin become Jean (Kate Mara, Brokeback Mountain) and Joan Holbrooke (Rooney Mara, The Social Network). Just like the real-life twins, the fictional sisters — portrayed by real-life sisters — are so close that they speak in unison, dress the same way, love the same man, but most importantly share the same dream. No one can see the world the way they do, but we do see how the world reacts to them, whether it’s in the courtroom, in the papers, through those who wanted to help or those who wanted to use them, through the eyes of beasts, both tame and wild, and even through their own echoes in the core of the earth. 

The film opens with Jean and Joan looking right at the camera and telling us what they dreamed about, then fades to the court scene, inspired by the famous trial the Chaplin twins went through, for a breach of the peace after harassing a local truck driver. In Bucking Fastard, the sisters — or the sisteres as he likes to call them — become romantically (or rather sexually) involved with their neighbour, Gareth Mulroney (Orlando Bloom, The Lord of the Rings), who is now asking to get a restraining order against them for harassment. After being portrayed in such a despicable way by the press, the sisters have become something of a sideshow attraction to [almost] everyone around them. They’re no longer really seen as people, but as a curiosity for others to gawk at, exploit, or use for their own amusement. Their vulnerability and deep need to be loved and accepted are repeatedly taken advantage of, and there’s an unsettling sense that everyone feels entitled to a piece of them. It’s heartbreaking to watch how easily fascination can turn into dehumanization. 

But Herzog also reminds us that there is still goodness in the world. Along the way, the sisters meet people who, despite barely knowing them, choose to help them simply because they can — offering them a roof over their heads, helping them navigate a world they’ve never really been allowed to experience on their own, and encouraging them to find their place in it. Their encounters with younger people, especially, bring some of the purest and most touching moments in the entire film. And I do believe that, all in all, Bucking Fastard is a reminder that we’re all different, and that those differences are what make our world so beautiful and fascinating. It’s a reminder that there is nothing wrong with being different from one another; quite the contrary, it’s something we should embrace. More than anything, I think the film is a call to be a little kinder to one another, and a little more accepting of the things that make each of us unique.

Although it’s not without its flaws — the film can genuinely be confusing at times, leaving its audience wondering exactly where Herzog is trying to take them, especially if you don’t know much about the Chaplin twins — the German filmmaker ultimately offers us a beautiful and deeply human portrait of two women trying to make sense of a world that often seems determined to make no sense of them. Through their story, Herzog explores loneliness, identity, belonging, and the simple, universal desire to be seen and loved for who you are.

Knowing Werner Herzog, one might’ve expected the film to be far more bizarre and more unconventional, but perhaps that’s part of what makes Bucking Fastard so interesting. It may not be the bizarre Herzog experience I anticipated, but it ended up being a  thoughtful, moving, and surprisingly tender film — and, ultimately, I think it works just as well for what it is. The only thing I found lacking, and perhaps would’ve benefited the film, and therefore helped the viewers, would be to add a little bit more context around the sisters’ lives. 

The Mara sisters deliver a masterclass in acting in unison — I genuinely don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like it. Every movement, every glance, every gesture, and every line of dialogue feels perfectly synchronized, to the point where you almost forget you’re watching two actresses and start seeing them as a pair acting as one. At first, their synchronicity is almost startling, but the more you watch, the more you get used to it — and somehow, that only makes it more fascinating. What’s especially impressive, though, is that despite moving, speaking, and reacting almost identically, Kate and Rooney still manage to give each sister her own little quirks. There are subtle differences in their mannerisms, expressions, and the way they carry themselves that keep them from ever feeling like exact copies of one another — although they are, in a way. It’s this balance between making them feel like one person while still allowing each woman to, subtly, feel distinct that makes their performances so remarkable. The longer you watch, the more natural their synchronicity starts to feel — and the more you begin to appreciate just how much precision and craft must have gone into it. Fascinating, uncanny and occasionally unsettling, their performances are easily one of the film’s biggest strengths.

Grade: B-

Oscar Prospects:
Likely: None
Should be Considered: None

Release Date: TBC