Train Dreams

I hope that whoever has a high sensitivity will see this movie. I never write reviews, but this movie touched my soul. With hypnotic visuals and a minimalist score, it blends gritty realism and dreamlike fragments. The film's slow-burn tension and raw performances create an intimate portrait of fragile hope.

"Train Dreams" reminded me a lot of "Nomadland," and affected me in the same way. There isn't any one big moment that hit me emotionally. Rather, the film builds up a gradual accumulation of moments that eventually tipped me over the edge, and I spent the last 30 minutes sobbing in the theater.

Also, like "Nomadland," "Train Dreams" really taps into what it's like to coexist with loneliness as a permanent part of the human condition. And it doesn't talk about it -- it makes you feel it. Joel Edgerton is giving an amazing performance. With little dialogue and little even in the way of story, he creates a character we feel we know like someone we've spent years around. There are some lovely performances in smaller roles too, notably William H. Macy and Kerry Condon, both of whom make a big impression with little screen time.

For all its sadness and uncertainty though, "Train Dreams" isn't a downer. Let's all hope we have a moment like Joel Edgerton's character has at the end, where something clicks and we figure out where we fit in the bigger picture.

Grade: A+

I think all filmmakers should take the medium seriously, but most don't. It's an artform. I'm not saying make an art film, just be mindful. Take it seriously. Do honest work.

This movie isn't for everyone. There's no antagonist/protagonist face off with a satisfying conclusion. It's just a story.

That's all I'm looking for. A life that isn't mine, in a time and place I'll never know, told by someone mindful of the work they are doing.

Every couple of years, someone does this kind of work and I'm thankful for it.

Train Dreams is one of those films that, at first glance, seem to lean toward easy melancholy and empty contemplation. The premise, centered on the lonely life of a lumberjack in the early 20th century, could suggest a drama that is too slow, stuck in long landscapes and silent emotions. But what Clint Bentley delivers here is something much deeper. In his second feature film, he confirms the sensitivity he had already demonstrated in writing Sing Sing (2024), constructing a delicate experience about memory, loss, the passage of time, and the weight we carry when remembering what will never return.

Above all, the film is about how we deal with life when everything we once were is now behind us. It is about time passing without asking permission and about the people who come in and out of our lives, leaving only memories behind. Bentley and Kwedar transform this theme into something universal: anyone who has ever lost someone, who has seen the world change too quickly, or who has found themselves revisiting memories without knowing why, will find something here that resonates deeply. In the end, the film offers no answers, but leaves us with a powerful reflection: memories are what accompany us to the end, and it is up to us to choose how we want to live them. Time waits for no one, people come and go, but what we hold on to, even what we only realize later, is what shapes who we are. Train Dreams may be slow and contemplative, but it is precisely in this rhythm that it finds depth.

In the end, the film offers no answers, but leaves us with a powerful reflection: memories are what accompany us until the end, and it is up to us to choose how we want to live them. Time waits for no one, people come and go, but what we hold on to, even what we only realize later, is what shapes who we are. Dreams of a Train may be slow and contemplative, but it is precisely in this rhythm that it finds depth. It is one of the most sensitive and impactful films of the year, and certainly one of Netflix's strongest bets to win over audiences and critics. If life is made up of passages, so is cinema, and this is one of those films that remains.

A serene Masterpiece for the soul. For the people growing old, feeling time pass.

I hope this movie gets more attention, its exactly what I hoped to see and been missing a lot from the big and small screens alike. A good story, an important message full of emotion and just perfect acting. Cant find something bad to say about it, only that I wanted more.