Movie: Horse Girl
Where to watch it: Netflix
Spoilers: Yes
Sarah is a quiet, socially awkward young woman. She fills her time by working in a fabric store, doing arts and crafts, visiting her former horse at the stables, and watching a supernatural TV series. She has a roommate who does her best to draw her out of social isolation but fails. Sarah begins to have increasingly lucid dreams and appears to be losing time when awake. She seems to be losing her mind – or is she beginning to understand what happened to her grandmother many years ago. Sarah suspects that she may actually be a clone of her grandmother because they look so similar and she is now glitching. When no one takes her seriously or will help her dig up her grandmother so she can have her DNA compared, her mental status breaks down further. Sarah begins to see people from her dreams in real life but they don’t remember her. Finally, Sarah’s fragile psyche cannot take anymore and she is admitted to a mental facility. She finally has a breakthrough and all is clear. She IS her grandmother. She being abducted by aliens who are moving her through time. With this understanding, she knows she must allow them to take her to the correct time so that she can become her grandmother. She returns home to dress like her grandmother from an old photo. She gets her former horse from the stables, walks into the woods, and prepares to be abducted so she can go home.
Rating: B+
Is it worth watching: Yes, but go into it with an open mind. This is a mind-binding, cerebral film. The pace is inconsistent. Sometimes it moves slow and other times it moves incredibly fast. Does Sarah have a form of psychosis like her grandmother did or is she her grandmother? I suppose that’s up to the viewer. There is good evidence for both.
It’s a beautifully done film that deserves a higher rating than the one given on IMDB. As my 12 year old says, “It was good. Just really weird.” Weird does not equal bad. If you want to accept this as a depiction of a person with mental illness, it’s fantastic. If you want to see it as a strange science-fiction film, then consider how a real person and their friends/family would react in this setting. Then it’s probably pretty spot on. Either way, it works for me.
It has a stunning cast. Sarah is portrayed by Alison Brie. Supporting cast includes Molly Shannon, Debby Ryan, and Paul Reiser.
