Alison Brie

Debby Ryan

John Reynolds

Molly Shannon

John Ortiz

Meredith Hagner

Jake Picking

David Paymer

Jay Duplass

Toby Huss

Lauren Weedman

Angela Trimbur

Aaron Stanford

Matthew Gray Gubler

Robin Tunney

Paul Reiser

Stella Chestnut

Hazel Armenante

Mary Apick

Dylan Gelula

Andrew Patrick Ralston

Dendrie Taylor

Zoe Saltz

Victoria Clare

Luis Fernandez-Gil

Allan McLeod

Bonnie Burroughs

Sharae Nikai

Goldenite

Benjamin Balcom

Mel Eslyn

Jeff Baena

Alana Carithers

Mark Duplass

Ryan Brown

Megan Fenton

Ashley Fenton

Beth Morgan

Courtney Bright

Nicole Daniels

Devynne Lauchner

Sean McElwee

Shahrzad Davani

Darrin Scott Stuckwish

Javier Brandon Diaz

Christopher Montgomery

Charles Croughwell

John T. Melick

Joel Henry

Dan Flannigan

Alexander Le Bas

Andrea Manners

Danny Williams

Eric B. Ballew

Ami Werges

Josiah Steinbrick

Colin MacDonnell

Daniel Vazquez

Alec Dietz

Roz Music

Katrina Marcinowski

Daniel S. McCoy

Zach Goheen

Jeffrey G. Barnett

Jinuk Lee

Joseph Hill

Emily Hock

Kyle Shea

Stephen Ling

Armando Ballesteros

Jeremy Zuckerman

Buddy Allen Thomas

Oliver Young

Megan Piechowicz

Dave Lifshin

Frankie Pagnotta

Ian Thomas

Dan Cassell

Eleazar Gonzalez

Jessie Bishop

Brian Selke

Tara Tosten

Edgar Hernandez

Juliet Janklow

Tim Carras

Gabi Moloney

Shuli Harel

Ashley Edouard

Will Dowsett

Judy Mora

Sebastian Pardo

Alexa Newman

Noam Karl

Maddie Buis

Jonathan Shrader

Brad Frizzell

Alex 'Ozman' Scott

Vanessa Portillo

Matthew McGinley

Michael B. McGee

Carlos Chavez

Forrest Penny Brown

Alex Perrone

Corinne Brown

Aaron Wiley

David Salazar

Sofía Figueroa Miranda

Tiffany Lazette Powers

Hunter Gorton

David Stephen Sanford

Elizabeth Spelman

Samantha Webster

Michael Anderson

Alex Velasquez

Carli Moloney

Justin Gardner

Christopher Finney

Marty Lang

Matt Davies

Drama

Horse Girl

Duplass Brothers Productions

United States of America

Louisa Moore - Screen Zealots

I left the screening of “Horse Girl” with a deep dissatisfaction, a film that is an odd misstep from director Jeff Baena (“Life After Beth,” “Joshy”). The first half of the film is awkwardly charming, but then it becomes something completely different in the worst possible way. The goodwill earned from the oddball sensibility of the story is derailed when things go in a completely “WTF?!” direction. This is a dark movie that gets weird for no good reason, and it feels like the project becomes a victim of writers (Baena and Alison Brie) who can’t figure out the ending to their story so they take the weird route. It’s lazy, sloppy, and super disappointing.

The goofy and sweet Sarah (Brie) has a quiet and fairly simple life. She spends her days working at a crafts store, her afternoons visiting an equestrian center, and her evenings in from of the t.v. watching her favorite supernatural crime show. When her coworker Joan (Molly Shannon) gives her a DNA testing kit for her birthday, it sparks a curiosity about her family history that leads to a pattern of sleepwalking episodes and disturbing dreams. These visions begin to seep into her daily reality, making the fine line Sarah walks between what’s real and what’s fake even more blurred. Is she a clone? Is it the work of extraterrestrials? Or is her family history of paranoid schizophrenia finally starting to affect her?

The mystery aspects of the story are interesting, and Baena treats his characters with tenderness and respect. The film is at its best when it presents as a quirky character study and its worst when it becomes too abstract. It isn’t the serious and depressing plot points that ruin the film, but it’s the outlandish finale that honestly makes no sense whatsoever. The ending feels like a slap in the face to those dealing with mental illness as much as it does to the audience.

English

Alison Brie on Horse Girl

Official Trailer