'Horse Girl' is a Netflix original movie written and directed by Jeff Baena, and if this is any indication of the quality of his other work I should probably check it out. Shades of the Netflix series 'The OA' and 'Stranger Things', 'Horse Girl' is an interesting hybrid of a movie, a character study that evolves into something more abstract and science fictionie. Alison Brie gives probably the best performance I've seen from her as Sarah (last name never given) a quite, semi-reclusive girl in say her early 30's, who works at a craft store and shares an apartment with her more outgoing roommate (Debbie Ryan, also likely the best performance I've seen from her, not that she's really scratching anything and no where near the quality of Brie's).
Sarah's hum drum life is going along as usual until she starts having experiences with missing time, and disturbing dreams, and starts to act more and more unhinged, which is particularly troubling to those around her given a family history of mental illness. The fantastical elements of the story are well handled and smart, the film never spells everything out for you but their is a definite sense of dream logic, like much of David Lynch's work.
However what made this movie work for me is Sarah as a character, Brie's performance, and the kind of intricate personal backstory that is slowly parsed out to the viewer. It's very thorough, I've know people like this before and I really felt like I got to know Sarah. Little insightful things that would have been brushed aside or never brought up in a more hurried movie are given their do. The cast of supporting characters in Sarah's life, co-workers, roommate, step father, childhood friend, and even the people that take care of the horse that once belonged to her give the sense of a full life. This is in effect an indie movie that casually works its way into sci-fi territory. One of the most impressive films I've seen in this very limited movie year. I highly recommend, but be aware of the R rating going in. ***1/2
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