Director Clint Bentley (Sing Sing, Jockey) brings us the story of Robert (Joel Edgerton), a would-be-forgotten everyman. More than telling this man's story, Bentley is intent on celebrating a life even if it’s a quiet one. He lets us see the sweep of a man’s existence, the small and large moments that shape a souland what it means to live mostly alone in Idaho at the start of the 20th century, except during logging season when Robert joins the men cutting down trees and drifts to wherever the work calls.
Edgerton plays Robert with a blend of masculinity and vulnerability. He watches the world shift beneath his feet as he clears forests, pounds rail tracks into the ground and helps raise bridges. His work reshapes the land and, in turn, reshapes him.
One of the film’s earliest shots shows a pair of boots nailed to a tree. It’s the kind of woodland oddity you might stumble upon and quietly wonder about. How did they get there? Who left them? The film understands that every tree has a story, and every person has a story, and if luck is on our side, someone will keep that story alive.
The film is narrated by Will Patton (Minari) with support from characters including wife Gladys (Felicity Jones) and logger Arn(William Macy), who steals his brief time on screen. Still, the truest supporting character is the land itself. Cinematographer Adolpho Veloso makes every frame glow as if borrowed from magic hour, which gives the film the hush of a dream.
All of this springs from Denis Johnson’s 117-page Pulitzer finalist novella. Bentley and co-writer Greg Kwedar (Sing Sing) bring that spirit to life from the candlelit cabins in the middle of nowhere to the lush woods where Robert works to the thick night.
Time moves forward and the old man searches for his place in a modern world. Men are going to the moon and the shape of the earth seems to bend in his mind just as his own reflection does in a mirror. A later scene takes this view even further and the perspective it offers will stay with audiences for a long time.
At one point, a logger looks out into the gathering dark and says simply “It’s beautiful.” Train Dreams is a disarmingly human film about who we are, how we arrive at ourselves and how we endure. It’s my favorite film of 2025 so far.
In a nutshell: If Terrence Malik (Tree of Life, Badlands) made an accessible film about what defines a life, it would be Train Dreams. “It’s beautiful.”
Where to watch it: In theaters now and on Netflix on November 21, 2025. That’s a short window to get to a big screen with an audience. Don’t watch this on your phone, please.
Would it be better with Olivia Colman: Of course, even as good as it is.
Award potential: Dark Horse for Oscar Best Picture and Cinetography and acting awards with a low profile and Netflix focusing on Jay Kelly, Frankenstein, House of Dynamite — and this. But I have faith the word will get around by January nomination time.
The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.
