Before Yellowstone, Taylor Sheridan wrote Hell or High Water, a gripping, Oscar-nominated neo-Western now making waves on streaming.

Left Image Via Youtube/@CBSMorning, Right Image Via PolyGram

Before Yellowstone became a television juggernaut, Taylor Sheridan was already redefining the modern Western on the big screen. Years before the Montana ranch saga began, Sheridan penned the neo-Western movie, directed by David Mackenzie.

It featured a legendary actor, Jeff Bridges, in top form, Sheridan’s sharp writing, and the fading promise of the American Dream. And nearly a decade later, the movie has found a new life, rising once again on streaming. The movie is Hell or High Water, a must-watch for fans of Sheridan’s storytelling.

Taylor Sheridan wrote the neo-Western Hell or High Water, which is now streaming

Screenwriter Taylor Sheridan in a still from Hell or High Water | Credit: Lionsgate/ Paramount

Back in 2016, Taylor Sheridan was best known as a screenwriter of intense storytelling. That reputation was cemented with Hell or High Water, a neo-Western crime drama starring Jeff Bridges, Chris Pine, Ben Foster, and Sheridan himself, who appeared in an anonymous cowboy character. It earned him an Oscar nomination and helped pave the way for his later success in television.

Now streaming on Paramount+, Hell or High Water is now enjoying a well-deserved resurgence in popularity. The story mirrors many of the themes Sheridan would later expand in Yellowstone, such as family, land, and legacy.

Inspired by a real-life story, the plot follows two brothers, Toby, a divorced father, and Tanner, an ex-con. They begin robbing local banks to save their family ranch. Their target isn’t random, they’re going after the very bank threatening to foreclose on their property. Jeff Bridges as Marcus Hamilton, a Texas Ranger who is just weeks from retirement, enters the scene and slowly closes in on the pair.

Critics hailed the movie as one of the best movies of 2016. It scored 97% on Rotten Tomatoes and received four Academy Award nominations: Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay (for Sheridan), Best Editing, and Best Supporting Actor for Bridges.

Sheridan’s dialogues and complex characterizations in this movie marked him as a rising voice in American screenwriting.

Why Taylor Sheridan’s fans should watch this Jeff Bridges classic?

Chris Pine and Ben Foster in Taylor Sheridan’s Hell or High Water | Credit: Lionsgate/ Paramount

What makes Hell or High Water so compelling, aside from its standout performances, is the moral complexity at its core. Every character operates in shades of gray. The brothers are criminals, yes, but they’re also victims of a broken system. The lawman chasing them isn’t cruel or corrupt, just tired and doing his job with a weary sense of duty.

Jeff Bridges, who earned an Academy Award nomination for his role, brings his best to the character Marcus Hamilton. It’s one of the finest performances of his late career and fits seamlessly among his many Western roles, from True Grit to Crazy Heart. Meanwhile, Pine and Foster did their best in portraying the brothers’ unpredictable journey.

While Yellowstone is vast and operatic, Hell or High Water is tight, focused, and emotionally raw. And that’s what makes it such a powerful companion piece to Sheridan’s TV work. It’s not just a great movie; it’s a foundational piece of the Sheridan universe.

Whether you’re a longtime fan of Taylor Sheridan or Westerns, or a new fan from Yellowstone, this movie deserves your time. At under two hours, it packs more punch than many long-running series, and leaves you thinking long after the credits roll.

Now streaming on Paramount+, Hell or High Water is a modern classic that proves Sheridan’s brilliance didn’t start on the ranch; it started with two desperate brothers and a lawman who wouldn’t quit.