Joy of Horses

I recently had the pleasure of watching The Joy of Horses by Ava Justin. As a lover of heartfelt love stories, this film truly resonated with me, especially through its poignant portrayal of Joy's journey.

Beyond the emotional depth, the film offers a valuable learning experience for aspiring filmmakers like myself. It's an inspiring example of how independent filmmakers can craft compelling narratives. The audio design was particularly well-executed, enhancing the immersive experience, and the protagonist's performance felt authentic and believable, drawing me further into the story.

While the color grading could be refined to elevate the visual storytelling, the film showcases tremendous promise. I'm excited to see how Ava Justin continues to grow as a filmmaker and what stories she will share with us next. I highly recommend The Joy of Horses to fellow filmmakers.

This movie is a testament to the power of storytelling. Joel Paul Reisig's direction is flawless, creating a narrative that feels both intimate and universal. Ava Justin delivers a performance that is deeply moving, capturing the nuances of her character's journey with remarkable skill. The script is beautifully written, offering a story that is rich with emotion and meaning. The cinematography and score work together seamlessly, creating a visual and auditory experience that enhances the overall impact. This is a film that doesn't just tell a story-it resonates deeply, leaving a lasting impression on its audience.

Despite the fact that the Joy Of Horses film doesn't live to its title, it tackles important subjects, love, grief and parenting in an interesting way.

The film's narrative puts all of us at a spot of appreciating the need for one to have a support system at all times as visible from the protagonist's need for a parent figure to help guide her through her healing process and protect her from making mistakes as she navigates her life.

The film's production values are below average however, from cinematography, sound design , production design, costume design, makeup, editing, acting and music among others.

The film's concept and idea are concrete however the screenplay and dialogue needed some work to make the story even stronger.

Despite the downsides of below average key creative elements in the film, it doesn't loose its track as the narrative sets a clear path and understanding of what the characters are and what they want, and in the end some win and some loose as so is life, the protagonist wins and that's what matters most.

This is a promising story and film from the filmmakers and hopefully their next one will be a greater improvement from this.

A coming of age story with writers that tackle the subject of love and dealing healing due to heartbreaking experiences which many people can relate to. The characters all have good goals they to accomplish. Even though this is coming of age film, but this film can relatable for all ages. Whether it's family issues or the love storyline seeing who make the most happy. There's something to connect with audience. The protagonist in the film main objective in the film maintaining her joy. The film take you on slow, but interesting ride on finding that joy. Check out this film and support a young upcoming filmmakers.

The movie itself? -- all the tell-tales of a low-budget indie. That is, overlapping credits (writer/director same person); static, overly-lit scenes; unknown actors; static dialog; static editing; no emotional punch; fails the Ebert Watch Test. The marketing? -- another story entirely. Heralds a new generation of "targeted" movies that come out of the box with their own built-in set of "influencer reviews." This film, which has already been picked up by one of the newer "free" streaming services, magically appeared on IMDb with stellar ratings of the same rarified air as STAR WARS or GODFATHER. And, astonishingly, some two dozen user reviews supporting those ratings. However, if you sort those early reviews by "PROLIFIC REVIEWER," you immediately see that virtually all the early entries were generated by reviewers who, coincidentally, starting contributing to the IMDb only this year, in 2024. Serious film fans need to take a moment to understand this new phenomenon and adjust their "film radar" accordingly. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))