Time curses us all. It is a dark, morbid line to begin a film review with. But for Clint Bentley’s adaptation of “Train Dreams” (screened in the Premieres section of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival), it isn’t. In fact, it encapsulates the mentality of the lead character, Robert Grainer, played in the film by Joel Edgerton. He’s an American railroad laborer living in the 20th-century American West. Grainer ponders several tragedies and personal losses across the decades. He mourns the death of those he holds dear. Reflects on the shifting nature of the American landscape. Grows frustrated over the effects of industrialization. All this deteriorates his psyche, transforming Grainer entirely into a lost, lonely soul. So, yes, Grainer has been cursed, and time (and all the time he was given) gave him one puncture after another.
A Sense of Inevitability and Fleetingness
The sense of inevitability and fleetingness, all smeared across the meadows and plains of the West, clouds the atmosphere. It blurs Grainer into a place of no return where despair and acceptance must intertwine to live life. Through these melancholy ranges, author Denis Johnson meditates on the beauty and sorrow of life, how change, even by impermanence, forces us to cope with our surroundings and personal woes, as well as hindering memories. His novel is sparse and poetic, yet equally haunting, not in a horror genre, but due to its lingering effect after reading. You can tackle it in less than a day, yet it can genuinely be affecting and wounding. Johnson has written plenty about isolation and existentialism in his other works, like “Stars at Noon,” which Claire Denis brilliantly adapted a few years back.
In “Train Dreams,” he achieves a more contemplative, reflective quality in his writing that attaches to the reader like a tattoo—a removable one that lasts as long as his prose lingers. Even then, you still feel it in your body occasionally. Now, with all of this introspection of Johnson’s meditations on life, the question stands: How will this feeling be depicted on screen by director Clint Bently? Adaptations of Johnson’s books haven’t occurred often, as they are difficult to adapt due to their emotional tangibility. With “Train Dreams,” Bentley tends to the wounds of the main character by crafting beautiful, Terence Malick-like imagery and staying true to the swiftly poetic tone that Johnson utilizes in his work. He pays tribute to the working class whose backs built America during the 20th century, allowing the material’s existentialism to linger in the pores of the cast, crew, and viewers.
“Train Dreams” tells the story of Robert Grainer (Edgerton), a soft-spoken railroad laborer. He is a man who works in the panhandle of Idaho, specifically at the Spokane International Railroad. But, in terms of his past, Grainer does not know where he comes from. He doesn’t know who his parents are or even when his birthday is. There is a mystery behind this person. Cursed by the past and soon to be damaged by industrialization, Grainer heads to where his mind and heart set him to. A man’s alienation from the world leads him to self-perseverance. Grainer is a wanderer, a dislocated logger that can be tied to the rest of Denis Johnson’s characters. And Edgerton plays him with limited expressions, tapping into the muted openness and tangible melancholy that the character garners.
Waybound in a World That is Not Stopping for Grainer
Along his travels, as he departs from Idaho for the American West, Grainer meets Gladys (Felicity Jones), his future wife and the mother of his child, who guides him to a more straightforward path full of splendor, love, and tenderness. She is the person that he was hoping to have one day. Gladys rids him of his isolation and cures his mental state. Jones also opts for a smooth, calm line delivery that caresses Edgerton’s Grainer and holds us watching safe and sound. The two live together, with their daughter Katie, in a cabin strayed away from the town. But Grainer has to spend a lot of time apart from them to make a living.
This time, separated from the two people he loves the most, kills him over time. It takes a heavy toll on him, being, once again, isolated, without a person who cares for him. Time passes by, and it continues to pass. Until… a tragedy occurs. And Grainer is left shattered entirely, now lost and waybound in a world that is not stopping for him. He tries to make his way forward in life. But the past keeps up. The past’s bad decisions and trauma prompt Grainer to learn more about life as he enters the unknown. This tale is narrated by an undisclosed storyteller in the third person, voiced by Will Patton, who, like Jones and Edgerton, is cast perfectly and uses his voice to guide us carefully through these tragic scenarios.
Bentley tasks Patton with highlighting the regrets and joys of Grainer’s life via a mournful approach to his narration. Having narrators in films often leads to a sense of detachment in the viewer. However, since Patton’s accounting, as well as Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar’s screenplay, are so in touch with painting the portrait of a faulty, melancholic man in the 20th century, it works powerfully. It adds to the experience, like in Malick’s use of whispered narration in the American cinema legend’s best works. The narration lends more weight to the images, which are captured beautifully by cinematographer Adolpho Veloso (“Jockey”). Malick is a clear inspiration for both Bentley and Kwedar in narration and imagery.
“Days of Heaven” comes to mind, although (and obviously so) “Train Dreams” does not reach the poetic beauty of such. Another difference between the two is that Malick is not afraid to point Richard Gere’s Bill in a negative light regarding his treacherous actions and behavior. Meanwhile, Bently and Kwedar sometimes treat Grainer too innocently. However, beyond that, the film offers a poignant exploration of hope, regret, isolation, and the impact of industrialization.
“Train Dreams” screened at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival in the Premieres section of the festival.
