Representation of bike gangs on screen has often been the epitome of cool, as illustrated by Marlon Brando in 1953’s The Wild One. They bring with them an air of masculinity, dressed in leather, a hint of motor oil behind the ears, astride huge, chrome-covered, two-wheeled monsters of the road.

Certainly Jeff Nichols feeds into that construct with his film, that he also wrote, about a motorcycle gang in sixties America.

One night Kathy (Jodie Comer) walks into a bar alone, to meet a friend, only to be greeted by a room full of gruff bikers. She’s hit on immediately, which she doesn’t take well to, before spotting a quietly intense young man, clad in leather and denim, playing pool. And when they’re eyes meet, Kathy is smitten.

His name is Benny (Austin Butler), and he’s a member of the Vandals Motorcycle Club, run by Johnny (Tom Hardy). And before you know it, she and Benny are an item.

But as in love as she is with him, Kathy is far from a fan of the lifestyle, which only gets worse over the years when a new breed of biker appears on the horizon, threatening both the old ways and the old members.

Nichols’ film can be seen as a throwback to that period in Hollywood, where biker gangs were seen to be cool. Based on the book of photography by Danny Lyon’s, who features in the film as a photographer, it captures a period of change in the biker gang world.

And although it includes two male actors who take their acting seriously – some might say too seriously – it’s actually Jodie Comer who steals the show as she is just sensational. Comer is known for her accents, and she doesn’t disappoint here, but her Kathy is a truly engaging character, especially with many of the male characters concentrating on their brooding techniques. This makes Comer’s character all the more important in the telling of the story, giving it the kind of colour it desperately needs.

US director Nichols is known for slower-paced features, such as Mud and Take Shelter, and this one is no different. He works it well though, doing just enough to keep it ticking over. It’s difficult to imagine how different it would have been without the excellent Comer however, whose absence would have made it a completely different story – literally. Especially when you consider that Hardy and Butler almost cancel each other out on the not very talkative biker front.

Although there may be just too much of a whiff of non-verbal masculinity to contend with, Nichols certainly evokes the period with a real sense of authenticity that’s pleasing on the eye.

It’s also good to see Norman Reedus in a brief role, which allows him to reveal a more upbeat side of his already existing personal biker persona.

Nichols has proved once again that he is one hell of a storyteller, but perhaps even he wasn’t expecting that his male biker-fest would be best remembered for Comer’s part in it all, who single-handedly steers the film in the right direction.