David Mackenzie in Hell or High WaterImage via CBS Films
The lion’s share of Taylor Sheridan’s writing efforts in the last few years have been focused on building his TV empire at Paramount, but older fans of Sheridan’s work will remember when he was best known for movies, not TV shows. Sheridan made his feature writing debut all the way back in 2015 on Sicario, which is still widely viewed to this day as one of the best projects of his career, if not the best. Sheridan even penned the script for a Sicario sequel just three years after the release of the original film, but Denis Villeneuve did not return to direct and was instead replaced by Stefano Sollima. Sheridan and Sollima later worked together on the 2021 Tom Clancy adaptation, Without Remorse, starring recent Oscar winner Michael B. Jordan in the lead role of John Kelly.
When Sheridan began his feature writing career with Sicario, most fans and critics felt that there was no way for him to follow it up with a better movie, but that’s exactly what he did with the premiere of Hell or High Water. For those who have never seen or even heard of Hell or High Water, the cleanest way to pitch it is that it’s a perfect mash-up of Yellowstone and No Country for Old Men. Like Yellowstone, Hell or High Water is set against a dusty Western backdrop, but it also features dynamics of organized crime constantly clashing with law enforcement — this theme is heavily present in both Yellowstone and No Country for Old Men. 10 years after Hell or High Water grossed $37 million at the box office against a $12 million budget, the film is available to stream on HBO Max.
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Collider Exclusive · Taylor Sheridan Universe Quiz Which Taylor Sheridan Show Do You Belong In? Yellowstone · Landman · Tulsa King · Mayor of Kingstown
Four worlds. All of them brutal, complicated, and built on power, loyalty, and the price of survival. Taylor Sheridan doesn’t write heroes — he writes people who do what they have to do and live with the cost. Ten questions will reveal which one of his worlds you were made for.
🤠Yellowstone
🛢️Landman
👑Tulsa King
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⚖️Mayor of Kingstown
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01
Where does your power come from? In Sheridan’s world, everyone has leverage. The question is what kind.
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02
Who do you put first, no matter what? Loyalty in Sheridan’s universe is always absolute — and always costly.
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03
Someone crosses a line. How do you respond? Every Sheridan protagonist has a line. What matters is what happens after it’s crossed.
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04
Where do you feel most in your element? Sheridan’s worlds are as much about place as they are about people.
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05
How do you feel about operating in the grey? Nobody in a Sheridan show has clean hands. The question is how they carry the dirt.
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06
What are you actually fighting to hold onto? Every Sheridan character is fighting a war. The real question is what they’re defending.
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07
How do you lead? Authority in Sheridan’s world is never given — it’s established, maintained, and constantly tested.
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08
Someone new arrives and tries to change how things work. Your reaction? Every Sheridan show has an outsider disrupting an established order. Sometimes that outsider is you.
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09
What has your position cost you? Nobody gets to where these characters are without paying for it. The bill is always personal.
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10
When it’s over, what do you want people to say? Sheridan’s characters all know the ending is coming. The question is what they leave behind.
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Sheridan Has Spoken You Belong In…
The show that claimed the most of your answers is the world you were built for. If two tied, both are shown — you’re complicated enough to straddle two Sheridan universes.
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🤠 Yellowstone
🛢️ Landman
👑 Tulsa King
⚖️ Mayor of Kingstown
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You are a Dutton — or you might as well be. You understand that some things are worth protecting at any cost, and that the modern world’s indifference to history, to land, to legacy, is not something you’re willing to accept quietly. You lead from the front, you carry your family’s weight without complaint, and when someone threatens what’s yours, you don’t escalate — you finish it. You’re not cruel. But you are absolute. In Yellowstone’s world, that combination of ferocity and loyalty doesn’t make you a villain. It makes you the only thing standing between everything that matters and everyone who wants to take it.
You thrive in the chaos of high-stakes negotiation, where the money is enormous, the margins are thin, and the wrong word in the wrong room can cost everyone everything. You’re a fixer — the person called when a situation is already on fire and needs someone with the nerve to walk into it. West Texas oil country rewards exactly what you are: sharp, adaptable, unsentimental, and absolutely clear-eyed about what people want and what they’ll do to get it. You’re not naive enough to think this world is fair. You’re smart enough to be the one deciding who it’s fair to.
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You are a Dwight Manfredi — someone who has served their time, paid their dues, and arrived somewhere unexpected with nothing but their reputation and their wits. You adapt without losing yourself. You build loyalty through respect rather than fear, though you’re not above reminding people that the two aren’t mutually exclusive. Tulsa King is for people who are still standing when everyone assumed they’d be finished — who find, in an unfamiliar place, that they’re more capable than the world gave them credit for. You don’t need a throne. You build one, wherever you happen to land.
You carry the weight of a system that is broken by design, and you do it anyway — because someone has to, and because you’re the only one positioned to do it without the whole thing collapsing. Mike McLusky’s world is for people who are comfortable operating where there are no good options, only less catastrophic ones. You speak every language: law enforcement, criminal, political, human. That fluency makes you invaluable and it makes you a target. You’ve made your peace with both. Mayor of Kingstown belongs to people who understand that keeping the peace is not the same as being at peace — and who do the job regardless.
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What Is ‘Hell or High Water’ About?
The official synopsis for Hell or High Water, which holds scores of 97% from critics and 89% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, reads as follows: “Toby (Chris Pine) is a divorced father who’s trying to make a better life for his son. His brother Tanner (Ben Foster) is an ex-convict with a short temper and a loose trigger finger. Together, they plan a series of heists against the bank that’s about to foreclose on their family ranch. Standing in their way is Marcus (Jeff Bridges), a Texas Ranger who’s only weeks away from retirement. As the siblings plot their final robbery, they must also prepare for a showdown with a crafty lawman who’s not ready to ride off into the sunset.” Hell or High Water was directed by David Mackenzie, who also helmed the streaming hit dominating HBO Max right now, Fuze, starring Theo James and Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
Check out Hell or High Water on HBO Max and stay tuned to Collider for more updates and coverage of Taylor Sheridan’s future projects.
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Release Date
August 11, 2016
Runtime
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102 minutes
Director
David Mackenzie
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Producers
Carla Hacken, Julie Yorn, Peter Berg, Sidney Kimmel
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