TIFF50: Train Dreams—Film Review

PSA: This Friday, put your phones down, turn off the lights, grab a blanket and the comfiest pillows and immerse yourself in the best film you will ever watch on Netflix. Period.

“Beautiful, ain’t it?”

A weathered, life-drained character in the film repeatedly says, to which our protagonist asks, “What is?”, “all of it”. The 'all,' the 'it,' and the beauty is life, and all its ugliness and elegance combined.

The same could be said of Clint Bentley’s sophomore feature film Train Dreams; a meditative journey of wonder and amazement.

The funny thing about this film is, I’ve kept this review for over two months in the vault. I wanted to give this film the best chance of being seen, talked about and buzzed because this Friday, the film is getting its wide release on Netflix and deserves all the accolades, momentum and word of mouth for it to get the recognition it deserves at this year's Oscars.

Yet, since my first screening of this film I’ve caught the film two more times; once in 35mm at the Tiff Bell Lightbox (in what may be one of my favourite cinematic experiences of the 2020’s) and once more on regular digital format, and man, does this film live up to the hype, and could, potentially, be the Anora of 2025 and also earn Netflix its first Best Picture award; this film is THAT GOOD.

The ironic story for me when it comes to this film is, Train Dreams wasn’t supposed to be the film I saw on Tuesday September 9th 2025; some complications with my tickets happened with my publicist and the film I was vying to see was Linklater’s newest film Nouvelle Vague. Luckily, the Vague screening fell through and my mother attended the film instead, and I immersed myself to a much earlier but worth-while dream.

The funny thing is, going to any film festival in the world, usually, one gambles on screenings. Despite all previous hype of a film, nothing can prepare for the sensation and feeling of a film for yourself. Sometimes, you accidentally stagger into a film, usually, a little indie darling that you knew nothing to very little about, and it may bore you to death or knock your socks off.

With Train Dreams, although having its world premiere at Sundance in January and receiving glowing reviews, the film never went to any other festival in the circuit until it landed at TIFF, thankfully. During that time, the buzz on the film calmed, and other festival films like The Smashing Machine, It Was Just an Accident and others were receiving all the trendy clamour.

So walking into this film, and knowing of the Sundance reaction, I was excited. Yet, Jockey, Bentley’s first film was a film that I missed completely, despite starring one of my favourite underrated actors in the world Clifton Collins Jr., so going into Train Dreams, right at the middle of the festival, really didn’t faze me. Yet, sometimes you walk into a film with no expectations and you go back to the moment where you think and feel that, you’ve experienced something special and wonderful and for the first time, and you will never experience it like that again. I remembered feeling that way when I walked out of the theatre watching films like Parasite, Synecdoche, New York and seeing Heath Ledger’s performance in The Dark Knight. I’m happy to report, Train Dreams was also one of those feelings; the moments the credits rolled, I knew that what I just watched, was truly special.

Train Dreams would be what you get if you mixed Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood and Terrence Malik’s The Tree of Life visually and stylistically, with the narrative panache of any Malick film and a script written by Kelly Reichardt, and even those comparisons, do not do Bentley’s film justice.

Narratively, Train Dreams doesn’t break any barriers, but emotionally, the film is a powerhouse knockout that sets a new precedent for the drama genre. Based off of Denis Johnson’s novella of the same name, and adapted by the up and coming talent Greg Kwedar, who recently developed the story and wrote the script for Sing Sing, the film is a very simple story about a decades long journey of one very simple man who’s life is changed forever upon meeting a very extraordinary woman.

The story centres around Robert Grainier, played brilliantly and in a career defining role by Joel Edgerton that should earn him his first ever Oscar win (never mind Leo). Grainier is an American railroad labourer, logger and consistent Spokane worker who’s life doesn’t really account to much of anything, until he meets Gladys (Felicity Jones) by chance at a fateful church service one Sunday. It doesn’t take long until Gladys and Robert share a life together, wed and decide collectively to live a life of hermitage. Together, the two build a beautiful, tranquil and quiet life in the Spokane wilderness, where Robert leaves on occasion for work on the Spokane International Railway.

Through Robert’s seasonal jobs, the narrative showcases the haunting, beautiful and somewhat fantastical elements of the story, by letting the dust settle and taking very nuanced moments of Johnson’s novella and giving a large commentary and depiction of the very real issues of race, class and injustice taking place in America during this time; including the Chinese labour injustices that took place in America during this time. Robert, luckily, befriends a Chinese man named Fu Sheng (Alfred Hsing) early in the film. Fu and Robert share very nuanced and quiet moments together, before Fu, who in the middle of a labour intensive log cut, is ganged up by various white working men, and thrown off a bridge. This event sets the course, tone and the undertow of what Robert thinks is a cursed life following him, and really gives our protagonist this very real sense of dread and doom which trickles down the entirety of the film—for himself, and the loved ones around him.

Although Robert is unable to shake the fate of his friend Fu, he tries to allow his life to unfold in the best way possible; being distracted with work, his wife as well as making as much time as possible with his daughter Kate (Zoe Rose Short) and wife, as much as he possibly can.

The beauty of Bentley’s film lies, simply stated, in the life-affirming frames that he captures of life within the mundane; virtuous shots by the incredibly talented cinematographer Adolpho Veloso give depth to the script, narrative and performances of all the actors on and off screen. Train Dreams is easily one of the most beautifully shot films of 2025, and yes, better than One Battle After Another, and could potentially be one of the most beautifully shot films of the 2020’s. Veloso SHOULD be a lock within the cinematography category at this year’s Oscars. Not only is the film wonderfully shot, but everyone involved with the film knows they are a part of something spectacularly life-affirming that every performance oozes with utter simplistic elegance; William H. Macy gives a nuanced yet powerfully wise supporting performance, Will Patton provides the film with a guttural and wonderful narration and each and every actor is anchored by subtlety and grace within each frame, including Kerry Condon who has a gorgeous role is one of the only female characters who isn’t a love interest but provides the film with such insight and poise that her words ferment deep within the audience.

Train Dreams plays like a film on fire, but the fire isn’t on the screen or in the theatre, it is in your heart and soul, and every emotion, each conflict and every encounter, sets your soul, heart, mind and body on fire, with life, resonance and purposeful meaning.

What’s there to say that hasn’t already been said about Train Dreams? A perfect film? A soulful conjuring of the wondrous yet devastating realities of life? A multi-generational, layered portrait of the life of one man and his family’s attempt to make peace with the world and life itself? These are large words and expectations for this film, and no matter what is said, there is nothing I could say within the words of this measly review that could diminish the utter and captivating beauty of Bentley’s film.

Train Dream is a movement; an intimate drama that spans scopes, years and decades while being personal yet extremely epic. A film that threads the audience into a world of wonder and amazement. It is not for the faint of heart, yet an experience of universal art and infinite life.

Fateful and breathing with so much vivacious life and passion, Train Dreams may possibly be the best film of 2025 and quite honestly, one of the most definitive experiences of this decade. Train Dreams is a cinematic experience like no other; a film you watch to live, and waited your whole life, to live to watch.

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