With writer/director Chloe Zhao winning Golden Globe Best Director and Best Picture honors on Feb. 28, AHFW wanted to feature her heartfelt 2017 feature “The Rider” as our Movie of the Week.
“The Rider” (2017) – “Sometimes, dreams aren’t meant to be.” Writer/director Chloe Zhao’s beautiful but heartbreaking picture tenderly embraces this aforementioned resignation in the world of rodeo riding. Brady Jandreau, a real-life rodeo rider suffered a brain injury on the circuit, and he plays Brady Blackburn, who suffers the same fate. Brady’s doctors forbid him to get on a horse again, and through quiet moments of reflection, he attempts to internalize his fate and cope with an unknown future. Everything feels raw and authentic, as Brady struggles with poverty, but also gallops on scenic South Dakota prairies, and matched with Nathan Halpern’s score, both extremes foster audience tears.
⭐⭐⭐ 1/2 out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Image and Trailer credits: Sony Pictures Classics
