Bucking Fastard (2026)
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2025-09 to 2026-08
Twin sisters embark on a surreal journey to dig a tunnel through a mountain range in search of an imaginary land where true love exists.
The story
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. The film explores the lives of the sisters, who are portrayed as total equals who speak in unison and do everything the same. They share the same dreams and are depicted as being perfectly in sync as they pursue their quest.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
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. The film, loosely based on the lives of Freda and Greta Chaplin, features Kate and Rooney Mara as sisters who are depicted as total equals who speak in unison and do everything the same. They share the same dreams and are perfectly in sync. The narrative follows their journey as they pursue this imaginary land, exploring their synchronized lives and the notoriety they might gain, similar to the real-life sisters who gained notoriety in the 1980s for having a restraining order put on them by a man they both became involved with.
- First release year
- 2026
- Runtime (minutes)
- 109
- Production countries
- Ireland; United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Werner Herzog
- Writers
- Werner Herzog · writer; Werner Herzog · director
- Cast and characters
- Kate Mara · Jean Holbrooke; Rooney Mara · Joan Holbrooke; Orlando Bloom · Gareth Mulroney; Domhnall Gleeson · Timothy; Hugh O'Conor · Counsel; Simon Delaney · Judge
- Genres
- drama
- Themes
- Twinhood; True love; Synchronicity
- Tone and mood
- Eccentric; Weird; Wryly funny
- Setting
- A mountain range and an imaginary land
- Premise and plot tags
- True story; Twin sisters
- Source material / true-story basis
- The lives of Freda and Greta Chaplin
- Reception
- The film received mixed or average reviews, with critics describing it as occasionally sublime, often ridiculous, and extravagantly weird, while others found it to be a waste of the leads' talents.
- Production trivia
- The title refers to a synchronized verbal slip the sisters made in court.; The film was originally offered a world premiere at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival but was rejected because it was not offered a competition slot.; Werner Herzog first mentioned the concept of 'Bucking Fastard' in his 1991 series Filmstunde and his 2022 memoir.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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