‘Train Dreams’: An Elegiac American Drama About Frontier Labor, Tragedy and the Power of Human Endurance
- James Rutherford
- 20 hours ago
- 1 min read
Train Dreams (2025) is a beautifully observed American period drama starring Joel Edgerton as Robert Grainier, a logger and railroad laborer. Orphaned as a child, Robert comes of age in the early 20th century, moving between remote camps in the Pacific Northwest as the railroad age reshapes the country.
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As a young man, Robert falls in love with a local girl named Gladys (Felicity Jones) and marries her, attempting to build a permanent life on the Moyie River. Robert’s work continually draws him away for long stretches, however, leaving their domestic future unfinished. The storyline follows Robert through years of arduous routine and intermittent tenderness until a catastrophic wildfire reduces their home to ash. In the aftermath, Robert moves through a changing America, carrying a private grief that never loosens its grip, haunted by memory and lingering questions about his family’s fate.
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Directed by Clint Bentley (Jockey, Sing Sing) and based on Denis Johnson’s novella, Train Dreams is a strikingly intimate portrait of the human experience. Bentley translates Johnson’s lyrical writing to the screen with a deft hand, shaping a rarefied portrayal of human grace amidst unprecedented change. Edgerton delivers a quietly devastating performance as a modest man in search of fulfillment, left unmoored by the forces of nature and fate. Bolstered by the striking work of Brazilian cinematographer Adolpho Veloso, it's a uniquely elegiac depiction of labor, loss and emotional endurance.
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