Horse Girl

Horse Girl is a 2020 American psychological drama film directed and produced by Jeff Baena, from a screenplay by Baena and Alison Brie. It stars Alison Brie, Debby Ryan, John Reynolds, Molly Shannon, John Ortiz, and Paul Reiser.

Horse Girl
Official release poster
Directed byJeff Baena
Produced by
Written by
  • Jeff Baena
  • Alison Brie
Starring
Music by
CinematographySean McElwee
Edited byRyan Brown
Production
company
Distributed byNetflix
Release date
  • January 27, 2020 (2020-01-27) (Sundance)
  • February 7, 2020 (2020-02-07) (United States)
Running time
103 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2020. It was released on February 7, 2020, by Netflix.

Plot

Sarah is a shy, introverted young woman who lives a quiet life and works at a crafts store. In her spare time, she visits the grave of her mother, who died by suicide the year before, and frequents the horse stable where her former horse, Willow, is boarded, and where she rode in her childhood; Sarah's recurrent visits visibly annoy the owners. On Sarah's birthday, she makes a feeble attempt to ask the woman who teaches her Zumba class to go out with her but fails to make her point. When her roommate, Nikki, finds Sarah home alone on her birthday, she invites Darren, her boyfriend Brian's roommate, over for a double date. The four smoke marijuana and have drinks, and Sarah listens eagerly as Darren reveals details about himself and his past relationship. After he leaves, Sarah has a bizarre dream in which she is lying in a white room with a man and woman.[2]

The following morning, Nikki awakens to find Sarah sleeping on the living room floor, and large scratch marks running across the wall. Darren returns to the apartment to retrieve his car, and asks Sarah on a date. At work, Sarah suffers a bloody nose and recognizes a man walking outside who resembles the one from her dream. Later, Sarah spends an afternoon with her childhood friend Heather, who suffered a traumatic brain injury in a riding accident that results in her having recurrent seizures and short term memory loss.

A series of bizarre incidents soon befall Sarah: She hears people talking in her apartment when Nikki is not home, and later one morning finds her car has been stolen from her apartment's garage. Gary, Sarah's wealthy stepfather, notifies her the car has appeared at a tow yard, as the registration is still in his name. He brings Sarah to retrieve it, and the tow driver informs them the car was abandoned near a water facility in the middle of the road. Later, Sarah apparently sleepwalks out of her apartment and awakens standing on a sidewalk, and has unexplained time loss. Her boss, Joan, suggests that Sarah visit a doctor given Sarah's familial history of mental health problems.

Sarah becomes convinced she is experiencing alien abductions and might be a clone, the latter triggered by a subplot in Purgatory, a fantasy television series Sarah watches regularly. Due to her striking resemblance to her deceased grandmother, Sarah worries she may be a clone of her. Meanwhile, she tracks the man from her dream, Ron, to a plumbing store that he owns. While on a date with Darren, Sarah manically confides her belief that she is a clone, and has him drive her to her mother's grave to dig her up and retrieve her DNA. When Darren becomes disturbed, Sarah accuses him of plotting against her, and threatens him with scissors, forcing him to leave her there.

After Sarah strips nude at work with no memory of doing so, she is admitted to a psychiatric hospital. Sarah is discharged after 72 hours in the hospital and dresses in her grandmother's dress, covertly stealing Willow from the stable and walks with her into the woods. Sarah stops in a clearing and lies on the ground. Moments later, a spaceship appears; she levitates toward the sky and disappears.

Cast

Production

In June 2019, it was announced Alison Brie would star in the film, with Jeff Baena directing from a screenplay he wrote with Brie. Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass serve as executive producers under their Duplass Brothers Productions banner, with Netflix distributing.[3]

Release

It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2020.[4] It was released on February 7, 2020, by Netflix.[5]

Reception

Horse Girl holds an 72% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes based on 53 reviews, with an average score of 6.26/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Horse Girl proves unwilling or unable to explore the deeper themes it addresses, but this unusual drama is anchored by Alison Brie's committed performance".[6]

Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com reviewed the film out of its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. In a 3-star review: "The sincerity that Brie brings to her full-fledged embodiment of mental illness is major, and in turn helps Horse Girl overcome its tricky storytelling."[7]

See Also

References
  1. Kiang, Jessica (January 28, 2020). "'Horse Girl': Film Review". Variety. Archived from the original on February 18, 2020.
  2. Allen, Nick. "Horse Girl movie review & film summary (2020) | Roger Ebert". rogerebert.com. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
  3. "Horse Girl". Production List. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  4. Siegel, Tatiana (December 4, 2019). "Sundance Unveils Female-Powered Lineup Featuring Taylor Swift, Gloria Steinem, Abortion Road Trip Drama". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  5. Erbland, Kate (January 21, 2020). "'Horse Girl' Trailer: Alison Brie Can 'Hear the Future' in Jeff Baena's Unpredictable Sundance Premiere". IndieWire. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  6. "Horse Girl (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  7. Allen, Nick. "Horse Girl movie review & film summary (2020) | Roger Ebert". www.rogerebert.com. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
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