Horse Girl
After premiering at this class ’s Sundance Film Festival , Horse Girl , the late from director Jeff Baena , is now usable to pour on Netflix . The steerer co - wrote the screenplay with star Alison Brie , who drew from her own family account with mental sickness while working on the book ( though , it should be noted , this is not free-base on a true write up ) . With that backstory in intellect , it ’s evident this fabric and subject matter entail a neat deal to the creative squad , and the promise exit in was that connection would direct to something powerful and worked up audiences could get invested in . regrettably , that is n’t the subject . Horse Girlfeatures a peachy lead performance by Brie , but its narration and core themes are too scattershot to make much of an impact on viewers .
Brie headlinesHorse Girlas Sarah , a lonely , single woman who spend her days go at a craft store with her protagonist Joan ( Molly Shannon ) and nights binge - watching the paranormal crime seriesPurgatory . One night , Sarah begins have bizarre pipe dream and finds herself in increasingly unusual scenarios in literal - lifespan . She becomes positive that she ’s part of a regime conspiracy ( i.e. foreign abductions , cloning , etc . ) and try out to uncover the truth about what ’s happen to her . The question then becomes if there really is something foreign underway , or if it ’s all in Sarah ’s principal .
Related : Horse Girl Ending excuse
A Golden Globe campaigner for her work onGLOW , Brie delivers another standout bend here . She anchorsHorse Girlby pull off the tricky balance required to play someone like Sarah , carry a disarming awkwardness betimes on that makes her easy to like and worry about . While the plastic film unquestionably paints the character reference as " leftover , " Brie ’s portrayal never feel like a one - banker’s bill impersonation ; even as Sarah lento descends into insanity and bug out losing her grip on affair , she still comes across as a well - rounded person going through incredible pain in the neck that ’s unmanageable for foreigner to understand . Brie ’s personal adhesion toHorse Girldefinitely helps in this respect , and she does more than her share to take the film , display a sort of quality trait to pulp Sarah out .
But despite Brie ’s good effort to keep the film on track , Horse Girlstill loses its way over the course of its sub - two - hour running time . What begins as an offbeat indie drollery about a social outcast attempting to open herself up tries to pivot into an exploration of mental sickness and the toll it takes on multitude . Unfortunately , Baena is n’t able-bodied to finesse between the two . As the film advance , it becomes clearHorse Girlhas dream of being a serious drama critiquing the inadequacy of mental wellness care , but this commentary is n’t explore enough at length to have its desired impression . The film ’s independent tale also meanders quite a bit and finally incur wayward by the time it reaches its third bit - which is nonfigurative and puzzling just for the sake of being so . It ’s not fully light what Baena and Brie are trying to say about Sarah or her term , makingHorse Girla rather frustrating and unsatisfying flick to watch .
Even with the defect of the script , there are some bright spots . In particular , Shannon and Brie have courteous interpersonal chemistry with one another , construct Joan and Sarah feel like longtime coworkers who have cultivated a affecting friendly relationship over the year . There ’s a fresh dynamic at play here , with Joan dish up as something of a mother figure to Sarah , attempt to understand what Sarah is going through to the best of her power . Joan is an interesting juxtaposition to Sarah ’s roommate Nikki ( Debby Ryan ) , who is more or less annoyed by Sarah ’s behavior and battle . Still , Nikki is n’t just a stereotypic " mingy girl " ; there are instance that depict the more confirming aspects of their relationship , like when Nikki encourages her beau to bring his roommate to Sarah ’s natal day party . However , other members of the supporting shape ( which include epithet like Paul Reiser and John Ortiz ) do n’t come as well due to being stick to with underwritten roles . There ’s only so much they can do with minimal screen time .
Ultimately , Horse Girlis a cunning film to take out . On one hand , it ’s okay that it does n’t leave easy answers for the question it poses , but even consecrated cinephiles may findHorse Girlabstruse and challenging to a fault . With a more focussed narrative and dissimilar approach ( quirky comedy does n’t always gel with the more serious view of the story ) , this could have been a compelling and necessary rich dive into its marrow topics . As it stands , Horse Girlis a bit of a misfire for Netflix , though it ’s still admirable Baena and Brie looked to take this form of saltation . This clearly is not a movie for everyone ( and cyclosis is a much good household for it than a traditional theatrical spillage ) , but perhaps it will be able to feel an audience looking for something a little different .
More : Watch the Horse Girl Trailer
Horse Girlis now rain cats and dogs on Netflix . It runs 104 minutes and is give away R for linguistic process and some sexuality , graphical nudity and drug use .
Alison Brie and Molly Shannon in Horse Girl
Horse Girl is a Netflix - free-base Psychological Drama written and directed by Jeff Baena and co - written by Alison Brie . asterisk Alison Brie , John Reynolds , Molly Shannon , and Debby Ryan , the moving-picture show revolves around a misfit girl who greatly enjoys crime show and horses and begins to experience strange dream .
Alison Brie and Molly Shannon in Horse Girl
