Train Dreams
(2025 | USA | 102 minutes | Clint Bentley)

Opening with a spectacular shot of a falling tree (shot from the perspective of the tree) in the late 1800s and spanning decades into the twentieth century, Train Dreams is one of the major premieres to emerge from this year’s Sundance. Reminiscent of First Cow in its careful attention to the practicalities of life on the outer reaches of manifest destiny, the gentle visual poetry of nature meets the rough edges of a logging life in the splendor of the Pacific Northwest.

Clint Bentley’s Malick-esque adaptation of the Denis Johnson novella is told entirely through third person omniscient narration. Through a series of lyrical episodes, we follow of one orphan’s life from being sent west by train to northern Idaho and eventually building a life for himself in eastern Washington. As Robert Grainier, a turn-of-the-century day laborer haunted by the harsh tragedies of a life on the frontier, Joel Edgerton makes for a soulful hermit guide. We follow him from job to job, often cutting down trees, sometimes building railroads, forever longing for the comforts of his wife (Felicity Jones), daughter, and riverside homestead. His world is one populated by motley array of quiet characters who somehow built the West as we know it. Characters ebb and flow, telling stories, falling prey to racist violence, or dispensing frontier wisdom (William H. Macy disappears into a role), leaving lasting impressions and deep regrets.

Adolpho Veloso’s mesmerizing and naturalistic cinematography captures the deep greens of unspoiled nature, the ever-forward march of change, and the devastating fires that irrevocably transform lives. Scored by the National’s Bryce Dessner, the mediative film captures a life spanning railroads to the jet age with the profound sweep of the complex beauty of life.

Train Dreams played as an official selection of the Premieres program at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. It has additional screenings in Park City and Salt Lake City throughout the festival.