Horse Girl

We decided to go with "Horse Girl" a movie with a very generic name, that came out about 2 weeks ago and we knew almost nothing about.

The movie is playing with a lot of different genres, supposedly it's a thriller, but there was also a little bit of comedy and sci-fi in there. To my sisters big disappointment the movie really wasn't about horses. It's about mental illness. And it just works.

Somehow we found ourselves laughing at the movie, but also being saddened by it, because this is reality to some people.

I wont go into too many details of the movie, but I encourage you to watch it, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

I really did try and want to like this movie. Im a huge Allison Brie fan and Deb Ryan fan and I love arty movies with a ending that leaves you guessing but... this just went overboard. The message they are trying to make gets too lost with the movie trying to be so "clever". If they are trying to send a message about mental illness it's definitely not clear enough. The director said in an interview he wanted to leave audiences guessing the ending but theres enough clues about the real meaning or the real ending and its so clear, sorry but no. Actually either ending whether its real or not has huge storyline holes in it that make either not make sense. This comes off as the director wanting to appear clever rather than it actually being clever and its too much. This would have been such a better and well liked movie if they reeled it in a bit. It just went too far and its a shame because it could have been great if they didnt go over the top with it

Horse Girl (3 out of 5 stars).

Horse Girl is a fair drama film that plays around the psychological, delusional, or realism concept. Which took me for a surprise with the final several minutes of what was happening. The performances by Alison Brie was great playing a character that starts losing her reality and becoming delusional. With a decent performance by Debby Ryan as her roommate. The plot is decent. The direction and script was kind of dull with making the characters underwritten.

The plot follows Sarah (Alison Brie) who works at a fabric store. She is more of a loner, who keeps to herself, and is obsessed with her tv series called Purgatory (which is similar to Supernatural). She visits a ranch and is obsessed with a horse that once belonged to her family. On her birthday, she starts having dreams and memories. The déjà vu feeling of having seen people before she has yet to meet. She sleeps walks. Losing track of time and her surroundings. She becomes obsessed that she is a clone of her grandmother who also suffered the same condition.

It is a nice character study psychologically with the story. The story is thin and forgettable. It is mainly about Sarah and how she losing her mind and becoming delusional. The ending does become something were it gets the audience talking about. Without giving away spoilers. It does become like a WTF moment on what just happened.

Alison Brie is great playing as Sarah. Outstanding performance. Debby Ryan is okay as her roommate who gets concerned about Sarah.

The direction and script is dull and tedious at times. Overall, Horse Girl is a fair movie.

I really enjoyed this movie, but when I got to the end I was surprised I'd already finished it because it felt like there was more to the story. It's definitely experimental, which I personally love. Some people feel Horse Girl is too weird or confusing but I think that's kind of the point, to make you feel like Sarah in a way.

There is a clear divide here based on the reviews I've read. The film has many supporters, almost as many detractors and not many in the middle.

Clearly, this is not a good watch for those who like plots served up on on a silver salver. Nor is it the typical teenage romcom where little is left to the imagination. However, I would urge viewers to look at it with an open mind and to try and understand the message that it is trying to convey.

I am by no means an expert in either psychology or psychiatry, but these are clinical fields in which the sufferer is often far removed from reality, but in their world they have THEIR reality. This is the point that has been sadly missed by those reviewers who accuse the film of having no plot, whereas it actually has two concurrent plots; one based on reality and the other portraying Sarah's decline into HER alternative reality. I totally agree that it does leave the ending somewhat ambiguous but so do many great films.......let the viewer use their own imagination.

I urge the detractors to watch it a second time with these points in mind. I did, and I enjoyed it even more that the first time around. Overall, I thought this film was well contrived and excellently executed.