You'll find Horsegirls to be filled with thoughtful and kind individuals, which you don't see very often. Though the subject matter is undeniably weighty, the characters give multi-faceted performances, with props for that going to writer/Director Lauren Meyering. The film just had its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.
The film is about a sport so niche you've probably never heard of it: hobby horse gymnastics. Competitions take place in various European countries such as Finland, Sweden, Germany and the United Kingdom. The USHHC, the US Hobby Horse Championships, is a real thing. And yes, it's people riding a stick with a horse's head on one end. It's a combination of dance, athleticism and imagination. Contestants, almost always young women and girls, sitting astride their hobby horses, leaping over poles and barriers - they even have barrel racing and dressage.
Margarita (Lillian Carrier) has the bulk of the film riding on her shoulders, and she's more than strong enough to carry it. She's the 'horsegirl' in the film. Her room, her clothing and her imagination are filled with horses. Though she's been warned not to go into the paddock near her with the live horses, she's unable to resist their magical pull. The outside of a horse is undoubtedly good for the inside of Margarita.
When we meet Margarita's mom, Sandra (Gretchen Mol), she's in a hospital ward, hooked to a Chemo drip. This is not the first time she's been in that tight spot. What Sandra wants more than anything is to see Margarita settled with a job and a future, in case the worst comes to pass.
Though Margarita can be quite brusque in her speech at times, she's also eager to make friends with people she can share things with. A difficulty she faces is that while Sandra wants her to act like an adult and find a job, she doesn't trust her daughter to make the right decisions, so she doesn't always treat her as an adult. Behavior common to all parents.
The scene when Margarita stands up for herself to her mother is emotionally raw, yet proves to Sandra that she did, indeed, raise the daughter to be all she hoped for.
In addition to the lovely and realistic performances, viewers will appreciate that people affected by Autism, a community underrepresented on-screen, will see themselves and their families portrayed not as victims, but as ordinary people living their lives, looking for jobs, making friends and dealing with loss. As the sign says on Margarita's bedroom wall: Different, not less.
