‘Bucking Fastard’ review: Kate and Rooney Mara are perfectly in sync in Werner Herzog’s strange tale of sisterly devotion

Dir/scr: Werner Herzog. Ireland/US. 2026.109mins 

Conceived like a folktale in which the enigmatic riddles are part of the appeal, Bucking Fastard may not always make logical sense but its emotional clarity mostly picks up the slack. Werner Herzog casts acting sisters Kate and Rooney Mara as unusually close siblings who dress alike, think alike and often speak at the same time. But that tight bond only makes them feel more alienated from the world, which they decide to combat through the oddest of plans. The two performances communicate endless shades of longing and loneliness and, while this bizarre journey does not always fully satisfy, it is consistently disarming in its tenderness and unpredictability.

Herzog regards his protagonists with immense compassion

The film begins its festival run in Venice competition, followed by trips to (among others) Toronto and San Sebastian. Herzog’s first narrative feature since 2019’s Family Romance, LLC will benefit from the Mara sisters’ star power, and they are joined by Orlando Bloom and Domhnall Gleeson. Still, Bucking Fastard probably has little shot at mainstream crossover, although those attuned to the filmmaker’s quirky/philosophical vibe may be enamoured of this proudly peculiar picture.

Set in Ireland, the story concerns Jean (Kate Mara) and Joan Holbrooke (Rooney Mara) who, as the film begins, are on trial, accused of assaulting a limo driver, Gareth (Bloom), with whom they briefly engaged in a romantic tryst. After they learn that Gareth has married someone else, Jean and Joan became incensed at the betrayal, trying (but failing) to burn his house down. Once that matter is resolved, the sisters continue to seek out love with the help of a sympathetic social worker, Timothy (Gleeson), who advises them on how not to do everything in their lives together.

Very loosely inspired by identical English twins Freda and Greta Chaplin, whose story attracted considerable attention in the 1980s, Bucking Fastard accrues much of its pleasure from investigating the intricate inner workings of Jean and Joan’s relationship. They frequently talk in unison – even simultaneously correcting themselves when they misspeak – and their hairstyles and walks are eerily similar. Intriguingly, Herzog never explains how these two characters became so codependent, but as Jean and Joan point out, they are not twins, merely sisters – a fascinating detail that hints that there may be subtle differences between the two women.

The Mara sisters do a remarkable job of wearing similar facial expressions along with their matching wardrobes, although it is interesting to observe how each actor’s personality occasionally asserts itself. Kate Mara’s generally warmer demeanour is faintly noticeable alongside her sister’s slightly more cerebral approach, and yet the two performers feel entirely in sync as their characters share the same vocal responses and childlike manner. 

Jean and Joan’s rapport is exceedingly lovely and even mischievously conspiratorial, but Herzog soon suggests the burden of their intimate connection. While their headline-grabbing trial has made them minor local celebrities, the sisters do not have much in the way of community or family. And when they attempt to track down their parents, their hunt results in heartbreak, which the Mara sisters portray with crushing restraint. It is fortunate that Jean and Joan have one another, because no one else seems to want anything to do with them.

In another filmmaker’s hands, these emotionally conjoined sisters would be the stuff of freak-show mockery, but Herzog regards his protagonists with immense compassion. Bucking Fastard’s most poignant scene is among its many quiet moments, as Jean and Joan simply say, “We are alone” – a seemingly paradoxical statement that highlights the ineffable solitude many feel even when they are not, in fact, on their own.  

Herzog and the Mara sisters’ affectionate treatment of Jean and Joan is crucial to getting the audience on the wavelength of this modest, off-kilter tale. This becomes especially important during Bucking Fastard’s second half, when the characters go on a strange search for a mythical land where they believe they will finally find love. It is here that the script starts to drift into the fuzzily fantastical and heavily metaphorical, as Herzog allows his whimsical side to get the best of him. Nonetheless, for an artist who has often championed outcasts and misfits, Bucking Fastard is clearly besotted with these two women who have never known anything besides each other.