Joy of Horses

For the story - I was catapulted into a world of romantic drama that stirred up my emotions in the most delightful way. The concept of the movie was very titillating. I enjoyed the emotional conflict that most people deal with everyday when it comes to loss and love.

For the production - It needs work, but to even be able to get it completed is success in itself. As everyone in the film industry knows, that is very impressive. I have heard about a lot of drama on set. DP'd leaving with the footage because they want more money. After already agreeing to the money offered. Or producers backing out of a project for whatever reason. Or a number of other things. So congrats guys for making this happen. Much success in the future.

The movies was cute, spiritual, etc. And the acting was fair. Tje story is about a teenage coming of iage girl that lost her mother. She is dealing with the loss and navigating the world of dating. She has issues with her imaturity and lack of guidance.

BUT, the soundtrack was horrible. I am not sure what the big studios do ( bass enhancement, background music, etc.) but the big studios have profession sound processing.

If the soundtrack was better this movie would be worth watching, but it was pretty hard to watch.

I stuck with it and made it through the end, but the sound quality made this hard to appreciate.

How this movie currently have a 7.7 score here at IMDB is a mystery. The movie quality is horrible. The acting stiff without any sense of empathy or feeling. The directing seems non existing and the cutting and sound does not add to the mixture. It was a pain to watch.

Ava's healing process after the death of her mother is the main theme and is depicted dutifully throughout the film. The romances in the love triangle fumble in the dark without any emotional depth. It feels as though there has been an effort to deliver the story according to the script, without understanding that it also needs to feel genuine. All the components for the story are borrowed from better films but then adapted without an understanding of what is necessary to make it credible.

The movie itself? -- all the tell-tales of a low-budget indie. That is, overlapping credits (writer/director same person); static, overly-lit scenes; unknown actors; static dialog; static editing; no emotional punch; fails the Ebert Watch Test. The marketing? -- another story entirely. Heralds a new generation of "targeted" movies that come out of the box with their own built-in set of "influencer reviews." This film, which has already been picked up by one of the newer "free" streaming services, magically appeared on IMDb with stellar ratings of the same rarified air as STAR WARS or GODFATHER. And, astonishingly, some two dozen user reviews supporting those ratings. However, if you sort those early reviews by "PROLIFIC REVIEWER," you immediately see that virtually all the early entries were generated by reviewers who, coincidentally, starting contributing to the IMDb only this year, in 2024. Serious film fans need to take a moment to understand this new phenomenon and adjust their "film radar" accordingly. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

I have been in entertainment most of my life and all of my adult life. On air in radio, TV and commercials, internet, film and more. I am currently a VO actor. Basically I have seen a LOT of content. Joy of Horses showed compassion, healing, understanding and the dynamics of losing a loved one while being able to move forward with one's own life. It was a good story. As any indie film, there were technical issues that over time can be corrected. I think Ava Justin and crew did a very good overall indie film. Jay Sawyer I have been in entertainment most of my life and all of my adult life. On air in radio, TV and commercials, internet, film and more. I am currently a VO actor. Basically I have seen a LOT of content. Joy of Horses showed compassion, healing, understanding and the dynamics of losing a loved one while being able to move forward with one's own life. It was a good story. As any indie film, there were technical issues that over time can be corrected. I think Ava Justin and crew did a very good overall indie film. Jay Sawyer.