All’s fair in love, war, and the flip of a coin. Italian Western “Heads or Tails?” turns back time to capture the famed “Wild West Show,” hosted by Buffalo Bill (née William F. Cody), which brought the myth of the American frontier abroad. In a twist of divine casting, John C. Reilly plays the iconic Buffalo Bill. The feature premieres at Cannes this year in the Un Certain Regard section as a sales title; this is Reilly’s recent return to the festival, as the star was previously the president of the Un Certain Regard jury for the 76th edition in 2023. Watch an exclusive clip in the video above.
Alessio Rigo de Righi and Matteo Zoppis co-direct “Heads or Tails?,” which centers on how Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show changes the perspective of Italian woman Rosa, who is trapped in a stifling marriage to a powerful and violent landowner. Per the official synopsis, “When a rodeo between American cowboys and Italian butteri ends in tragedy, Rosa flees with Santino, the daring local rider who bested the Americans. But in a world where justice is sold to the highest bidder, Buffalo Bill and others join the hunt for the bounty on Santino’s head. Rosa’s dream of freedom quickly collides with the weight of reality — and like in every good Western ballad, fate flips a coin.”
The film is inspired by a true event that took place during Buffalo Bill’s stay in Italy. Nadia Tereszkiewicz, Alessandro Borghi, Peter Lanzani, Mirko Artuso, and Gianni Garko also star.
Directors Rigo de Righi and Zoppis were previously at Cannes in 2022 with “The Tale of King Crab.” The duo told IndieWire that “Heads or Tails?” is rooted in their shared “love for folk ballads and oral storytelling, narratives passed on as if they were truths.”
They said in a shared statement, “Like frontier legends, our story begins with familiar Western elements, the cowboy, the duel, the escape, but slowly shifts into a dreamlike, surreal tale. The goal was to break the rules of the genre and reimagine it through a contemporary Italian lens. The story of the butteri who challenged Buffalo Bill’s cowboys inspired a narrative where fiction and history intertwine. Divided into chapters like a dime novel, the film is narrated by Buffalo Bill himself, an unreliable voice whose version of events clashes with the reality of Rosa’s journey. Her arc becomes the emotional and symbolic core of the film. At its heart, ‘Heads or Tails?’ deconstructs the masculine myth of the Western, revealing a world of illusion, solitude, and brutality, where love is the only path to redemption.”
In real life, Buffalo Bill brought his popular “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show” to Naples in 1890. The European tour included stops in Rome as well. Rigo de Righi explained in the press notes for the film that finding the right casting for Buffalo Bill was key. “One of the most important and delicate parts of the casting process was Buffalo Bill. We had never worked with an American actor before, and honestly, it felt like something we could only dream of,” Rigo de Righi said. “We were huge fans of John C. Reilly, but we weren’t sure it could really happen. Still, we sent him the script — and not long after, we got the chance to meet him. And the moment we sat down and talked, it was clear: how had we not thought of him from the beginning? He was Buffalo Bill. That meeting changed everything, it gave the character depth, irony, and humanity, exactly what we were looking for.”
Reilly also told Variety that the role was “intimidating” but an instant honor. “Getting to interpret such a legendary character as William Cody was very intimidating, but such a joy as well,” Reilly said. “He was fascinating and very much a man of contradictions. Matteo and Alessio are two of the most inspired and talented directors I’ve ever worked with, and it was in collaboration with them that I had the nerve to play this giant in American history.”
Cinetic is handling U.S. sales for “Heads or Tails?” with RAI Cinema International shopping international rights. The film debuts at Cannes on Thursday, May 22. Check out an IndieWire exclusive clip in the video above.
