Composite Score: 84.77

Starring: Brady Jandreau, Mooney, Tim Jandreau, Lilly Jandreau, Leroy Pourier, Cat Clifford, Tanner Langdeau, James Calhoon, Terri Dawn Pourier, and Lane Scott

Director: Chloé Zhao

Writer: Chloé Zhao

Genres: Drama, Western

MPAA Rating: R for language and drug use

Box Office: $3.44 million worldwide

Why should you Watch This Film?

                The Rider is Chloé Zhao’s film about an injured cowboy living in the American heartland and his search for purpose at a time when it seems lost. The film stars Brady Jandreau as the titular rider, Brady Blackburn, supported by his actual father and sister Tim and Lilly Jandreau along with a slew of other native heartlanders, cowboys, and rodeo junkies, including Brady’s wife Terri Dawn and his childhood best friend and fellow rider Lane Scott who was injured in a car crash before the film and plays a fictionalized version of himself who instead was injured in a rodeo accident. The film is notable for its honest portrayal of life on the modern prairie and in reservations and also for the deeply moving, near factual story at its center.

Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?

                I don’t want to make this film out to be something that it’s not, so let’s just say that this film fits aggressively in with Zhao’s other recent endeavors – Nomadland and Eternals – in that it plods through a story that feels like a documentary at times, particularly with its casting of so many non-professionals in roles where they basically play themselves. Here’s the deal, I think that The Rider’s destination and path are both more entertaining and engaging than those other two films that I mentioned before, and a lot of that has to do with Jandreau’s leading performance, which I’ll get into soon, but it’s still much slower and more methodical in its pacing than many modern westerns – think the pace of There Will Be Blood without the charisma of Paul Dano or Daniel Day-Lewis to keep you hooked.

So wait, why should you Watch This Film?

                Zhao’s love of authenticity shines most brightly in The Rider – more so than in any of her other films since. The almost biographical and documentarian nature of the film, with its subjects as its stars, helps to connect the amateur performers with the audience. They all feel like they get what’s going on and the stakes of the situations because they really live it out. The Jandreaus all give compelling performances, but Brady’s leading one is the concrete on which the whole film stands. His silent suffering through the loss of his first love – riding broncos at the rodeo – becomes so compelling as you see the world around him get more and more fleshed out, with him having to come to terms with a new place in a world that still cares about him beyond just his ability to ride a horse well. In and of itself, this makes for a compelling narrative, but with the added elements of his family – father Tim and autistic sister Lilly – and his injured best friend Lane, the film becomes something truly moving and inspiring. Brady’s story becomes one of hope, humanity, and connection that will most likely leave audiences holding in at least one single tear by the film’s end.

                By choosing to cast real people as fictional versions of themselves, Zhao creates a truly great film full of authentically human moments that speaks to more than just the characters in the film. Her methodical nature and willingness to dwell in certain moments longer than some audiences might be used to can make the film drag in some moments, but Brady Jandreau’s leading performance and the story of his embrace of a new purpose should be enough to keep you around for the fantastic finish. This film is currently available to rent on most streaming services for anyone looking to give it a watch in the near future.