Kate & Rooney Mara Are Mesmerizing, But This Is A Total Misfire [TIFF]

An integral figure in the New German Cinema movement and one of Germany’s most legendary filmmakers, Werner Herzog has a reputation for pushing his characters, cast, crew, and even the audience to their physical and psychological limits. The filmmaker infamously known for pulling a pistol on Klaus Kinski on the set of Aguirre, the Wrath of God; eating his leather shoe after losing a bet; and taking an air rifle shot to the abdomen during an interview now returns after a seven-year absence with Bucking Fastard, a woeful misfire of a movie making its Canadian premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.

Bucking Fastard stars real-life sisters Kate and Rooney Mara as Jean and Joan Holbrooke, respectively. In typical Herzog fashion, the Holbrookes are strange lead characters. They speak in unison, dress similarly, and are both in a sexual relationship with their lover Gareth (Orlando Bloom). When their fiery affair with Gareth turns upside down, however, the sisters face a court trial that sets them on a path away from home and toward finding love and meaning in life from new sources.

Kate & Rooney Mara’s Synchronized Performances Steal The Show

Kate and Rooney Mara have accrued a slew of impressive film and television credits between them, but neither has done something quite as fascinating as Bucking Fastard. For the nearly two-hour duration of Herzog’s film, the Mara sisters overwhelmingly say the exact same lines at the exact same time, while being, at most, only a few feet away from one another at any given moment. Every Herzog movie features at least one ambitious, eccentric swing for the fence, and in Bucking Fastard, that comes in the form of this truly unusual couple of protagonists.

Heading into this film without any preconceived notions of what it is, one is likely to be in awe of, or aghast at, the humorous synchronicity of the Mara sisters’ performances. It is quite a feat for both actors to be so perfectly aligned with their line delivery, body language, and facial expressions, yet one that they make look effortless.

Due to how synchronized the Maras are, their performances become particularly noteworthy during rare moments of misalignment, whether that be not speaking in unison or animating themselves differently while doing so. These moments often occur at critical junctions, and represent the film’s only reminders that they are playing two distinct characters.

After an interesting first act, Bucking Fastard takes a turn for the worse and steadily crumbles…

Carried by the sheer novelty of the sisters’ performances, Herzog’s film fascinates throughout a first act that operates much like a courtroom drama. While Jean and Joan defend themselves in court against their former lover Gareth, flashbacks shed light on the quixotic personalities of the Holbrookes and how they both simultaneously engaged in a relationship with Bloom’s character, even going so far as to share the same bed as a threesome. Although far from the most bizarre of Herzog’s outings, the film embraces the weird every chance it gets, often through the sisters’ behavior and dialogue.

Bucking Fastard Loses Its Way With Aimless Storytelling

After an interesting first act, Bucking Fastard takes a turn for the worse and steadily crumbles from scene-to-scene until it finally comes to an end. To call Herzog’s movie aimless would be a vast understatement. After the legal drama wraps up all too quickly, the movie hops from one scene to the next without much in the way of storytelling focus or momentum.

That Herzog’s films lack the kind of polish many filmmakers apply to their projects is usually part of their charm, but his latest effort proves so disconnected that one is left to question what exactly he was aiming for. It is clear he is interested in satirizing the deleterious ways in which people cope with heartbreak, and the even more destructive ways in which people are willing to forego logic and rekindle infatuation. But these ideas are so muddled and vague that it is difficult to come away with any manner of meaningful commentary.

As the third act unfolds, Bucking Fastard transitions from meandering to grating. There is potentially something quite interesting and emotional to say about hopeless romanticism and misguided optimism, although all of this is lost come the final third. The modicum of investment in characters that exists beforehand is likely to dissipate, as even more diversions derail the film even further.

There are shades of Herzog’s trademark idiosyncrasy throughout Bucking Fastard, but it is buried underneath a legion of unwieldy, vague ideas that ultimately render it one of the poorest outings in the German filmmaker’s illustrious filmography.

Bucking Fastard screened at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).