CBS Films has released the first trailer for Hell or High Water, director David Mackenzie's (Starred Up) upcoming action thriller about two brothers driven on a bank robbing spree by financial desperation. From a script by Sicario scribe Tyler SheridanHell or High Water stars Chris Pine as Toby, a single father with a clean record, and Ben Foster as ex-con brother, Tanner. With the bank set to foreclose on their mother's farm, and without the means to prevent it from happening, the brothers set out on a series of well-orchestrated heists that put the Jeff Bridges' relentless Texas sheriff hot on their tale.

Hell or High Water also stars Dale DickeyGil BirminghamKaty Mixon, and Kevin Rankin and premieres next week in the Un Certain Regard sidebar at Cannes. Watch the first trailer below.


David Mackenzie is lowkey one of the most reliable filmmakers on the market. There's a distinct lack of flashiness to his style, but he knows how to get great performances out of actors, isn't afraid to get down and dirty with provocative story matter, and traverses genres with ease -- from romances like Perfect Sense and Tonight Your Mine, to psychological thrillers like Young Adam and Asylum, to his finest film, the brutal prison drama Starred Up. He also has a bit of a throwback quality that is on full display with Hell or High Water, which seems like one of simple masculine actioners that dominated the 90s (but are all but consigned to VOD these days). Add in the excellent cast (Chris Pine continues to surprise and delight on screen), and definite notes of Sheridan's Sicario, and I'm all aboard.

Here's the official logline.

In HELL OR HIGH WATER, two brothers, Toby (Chris Pine) and Tanner (Ben Foster), go on a calculated bank robbery spree that puts them on a collision course with a West Texas Ranger (Academy Award©-winner Jeff Bridges) determined to take them down.


hell-or-high-water-poster