Is there a Bonnie and Clyde movie on Netflix? Everything to know

Netflix released a movie in 2019 titled The Highwaymen, about the couple Bonnie and Clyde.

The film is a criminal drama centered on two Texas rangers sent to track down the wanted couple. Throughout the Great Depression, Bonnie Parker, Clyde Barrow, and their Barrow Gang went on a criminal rampage that shook the Deep South of the US.

A snap of Texas rangers from the trailer (Image via Netflix, The Highwaymen)

The couple's reputation for bank robberies contributed to the romantic Robin Hood persona that arose during the 1930s. Hollywood revived this myth in the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde, a cornerstone of the counterculture of the time.

A 2019 Netflix film, on the other hand, sought a more realistic depiction of the gang and devastated their glamorized reputation.

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What is the Netflix movie about Bonnie and Clyde?

The Highwaymen is a 2019 Netflix thriller starring Kevin Costner of Yellowstone and Woody Harrelson of The Hunger Games in the roles of retired Texas Rangers Maney Gault and Frank Hamer, respectively.

Governor Ma Ferguson, the first elected female governor of America, recruited Hamer, who was supporting herself at the time by working for the Texas Department of Corrections, to bring down the Barrow Gang.

Hamer enlisted Gault as his collaborator in this endeavor. Both men had been acquaintances during their time as Rangers and had collaborated to suppress alcohol operations throughout Prohibition. In actuality, both individuals embodied the archetype of a seasoned, straightforward law enforcement officer to the greatest extent possible, renowned for their honesty and efficiency.

A shot from the Trailer (Image via Netflix, The Highwaymen)

This striking contrast with Bonnie and Clyde enhances the pitch of their narrative, as it provides the audience with the purest definition of a cops and robbers story. There is a surreal scene depicted in the new Netflix film The Highwaymen, following Bonnie and Clyde's multistate criminal rampage, during which they murdered thirteen individuals.

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Is The Highwaymen historically accurate?

The Highwaymen is an adaptation of the true story of two Texas Rangers, Maney Gault and Frank Hamer, who, in the 1930s, hunted down and executed the notorious outlaws.

Bonnie and Clyde only appeared briefly in The Highwaymen, with the Netflix movie instead focusing almost entirely on real-life lawmen played by Costner and Harrelson.

Although it takes some artistic liberties, the Netflix crime thriller Bonnie and Clyde is primarily based on a true story and is relatively historically accurate. The Highwaymen strategically withhold every aspect of the couple until the conclusion, providing only fleeting views of them throughout the film. Whenever we encounter Bonnie, she is shown with a noticeable limp due to a car accident.

The Highwaymen exhibit remarkable attention to detail by accurately portraying the limp in a historically precise manner. During an automobile accident, Bonnie and Clyde had their vehicle damaged, causing battery acid to spill down Bonnie's leg. This incident resulted in a bad limp for the rest of her life.

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Did they really tow Bonnie and Clyde through town?

Clyde in a scene from Trailer (Image via Facebook @Organic Cinema. Inc)

The authorities managed to capture Bonnie and Clyde on May 23, 1934. Their bullet-riddled Ford, containing their deceased corpses, was transported by a tow truck to Arcadia, La. It was chaotic, and rumors circulated that the criminals were attacked on a country road close by.

Thousands of people from neighboring towns gathered in expectation to see, and maybe even touch, the bodies of the murderous lovers whose exploits had captivated the nation. In parallel to the previous scene of individuals fixating on seeing the couple firsthand, they now aggressively rip at their bloodied bodies in search of souvenirs.

This is disturbingly true to the actual story. A crowd of individuals gathered at the location and attempted to remove body parts and clothes as a remembrance. In The Highwaymen, Hamer and Gault refrained from engaging with the media coverage of the incident.

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Released in 2019, the film The Highwaymen is available to stream now on Netflix.