Train Dreams Film Review: Finding Yourself

The thoroughly moving drama Train Dreams feels slightly superficial in its construction, but Joel Edgerton gives a performance of immense power and emotion.

Train Dreams is based on Denis Johnson’s gorgeous story of the same name, and its small origins as a novella belie its grand reflections of our humanity’s place in the universe. At its centre is Robert Grainier (Joel Edgerton, Dark Matter), a logger living in the 1910s and 20s, who spends much of his time away from his family due to work. The colourful characters he meets along the way inform his life, as do the various events, both good and bad, that he is involved in. Guiding us through these occurrences is Will Patton’s (Minari) voiceover, whose warm, calm and emotive tone is a steady embrace throughout.

Edgerton is tremendous, the most striking part of the film by far. It is a career-best performance; Robert can be a withdrawn man at times, but Edgerton always gives the audience enough to latch onto. When Robert does outwardly show his emotions more, such as in scenes with his wife Gladys (Felicity Jones, The Brutalist) and baby daughter, Edgerton gives us a much-needed sparkle and zest. Along with co-writer Greg Kwedar (Sing Sing), Bentley captures the pair’s emotional connection perfectly. The love that they feel for one another gives a semblance of an answer to the film’s central quest for the meaning of life.

Train Dreams is a visually striking film. DOP Adolpho Veloso (Jockey) captures not just the magnificence of the natural world, but imbues many beautiful shots with meaning too. A pair of boots enveloped by a tree trunk, for example, or an indent left on a pillow, reflect Robert’s increasingly desperate search for meaning in a world that keeps changing around him. In contrast, the script doesn’t always match the more-assured visuals or the story’s lofty thematic tendencies, which is surprising, considering Kwedar and Bentley are the screenwriting duo behind last year’s rich, layered drama, Sing Sing. In Train Dreams, their work is emotionally moving to a degree, but constructed in superficial and slight beats. This translates into the film’s usage of voiceover; at times it can be effective, but at others, frustratingly didactic. 

That isn’t to say Train Dreams won’t give you goosebumps on multiple occasions, but that such sensations will be short-lived. The elements of grief that Train Dreams touches on are the best part, and inform the most moving and harrowing moments of the film. Other parts, such as the broader musings on the meaning of life or the underdeveloped treatment of themes of racism, fall short and suffer from being too simplistic. There is enough to latch onto, though, in the joys and troubles of Robert to make this a worthwhile and ultimately touching journey—just not one that will stick with you for a long time.

Train Dreams will be screened at the BFI London Film Festival on 12-13 October, 2025. The film will be released in select U.S. theaters and U.K. & Irish cinemas on November 7, 2021, and globally on Netflix from November 21.