Train Dreams Review: BFI London Film Festival 2025
Joel Edgerton, Felicity Jones and Kerry Condon star in meditative Western Train Dreams
Near the turn of the 20th century, Robert Grenier (Joel Edgerton) is an orphaned child of unknown origin. With little in the way of inheritance or education, he is destined for a life of labour and spends many years moving through transient work camps as the great American railroads forge their way out West. After settling down and having a baby with the headstrong Gladys (Felicity Jones), the two build a cabin together, and Robert frets each summer when he must leave home to find work and earn money.
Robert is a simple man; he builds little, achieves no great or lasting deeds, and few outside of a handful of people ever learn his name. But through his eyes we see the seismic impact of industrialisation on his working life, relationships and community. An opening scene sees him toiling on a new railway bridge over a gorge, men losing their lives in the process, while wry narration tells us the bridge will be made obsolete in only a few decades when it’s replaced by a concrete one 10 miles away.
While Robert lives his whole life in a cabin with no electricity or running water, never owning a bank account nor seeing a doctor, by the end of his life span, there are televisions in shop windows and man has successfully travelled to space. It’s a fascinating slice of life, capturing a reality in which absolutely everything is changing, but also, for this one person, nothing is at all.
Train Dreams is based on a 2011 novella by Denis Johnson, which follows the life of an Idaho logger from childhood right the way through to his death. It’s directed and adapted by Clint Bentley, who previously penned the multi-Oscar nominated Sing Sing in 2023. Bentley’s film feels like a natural progression of the traditional American western, with a healthy sprinkling of Terence Malick influences along the way.
Whilst Grenier may be a simple man, he is not simple of mind, and Edgerton gives a career-best performance as a figure forced to existentialism when hardship comes his way. Sensitive and understated, Robert is troubled by dreams and auditory hallucinations throughout his life, constantly in search of some wider plan or purpose. Train Dreams feels grounded in the harshness of reality, yet hazy and ephemeral all at the same time.
Mostly shot outside amongst the enormous trees that Robert spends his life felling, it is lush, green and mesmerisingly beautiful. Soundtracked by birdsong and with an atmospheric score from The National’s Bryce Dessner and original music from Nick Cave, Bentley crafts a naturalistic picture that at times feels truly hypnotic.
Framed by charismatic narration from Will Patton, there’s also so much delightful, Mark Twain-esque dialogue to enjoy from a steady stream of colourful characters that weave in and out of Robert’s life. A standout supporting role comes in the form of William H Macy’s Arn Peeples, an older member of the logging crew who prefers spinning a good yarn over actually cutting down trees and is spending his elder years truly appreciating the glory of the nature around them.
‘’Beautiful, ain’t it?’’ Arn tells Robert. ‘’All of it. Every bit of it…” There couldn’t be a better take away from Train Dreams. A melancholy film about the beauty to be found in life despite or even because of its fleeting nature. It’s haunting, even crushingly sad in places, yet somehow hopeful too.
Train Dreams is playing as part of the BFI London Film Festival. It will be released globally on Netflix from 21st November 2025
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