Clint Bentley’s “Train Dreams,” a Malickian drama about a railroad worker who lives an isolated life, was acquired by Netflix in later January. The deal was reported to be in the $10M range. A trailer has been released for Bentley’s film.
“Train Dreams” stars Joel Edgerton, Felicity Jones, Kerry Condon, William H. Macy and Clifton Collins Jr. It earned strong reviews after its Eccles premiere at the Sundance Film Festival — 85 on Metacritic and 97% on Rotten Tomatoes — and is now set to screen at TIFF in September.
The synopsis for “Train Dreams”: A story about Robert Grainier, a day laborer employed as a logger helping to expand the railways across America. Forced to spend prolonged periods of time away from his wife, Gladys, and their young daughter, Grainier struggles to make sense of his place in a rapidly changing world.
Bentley’s debut film was 2021’s “Jockey,” which also premiered in Park City, and starred Collins Jr. I was supposed to screen “Train Dreams” in January, but Sundance abruptly pulled it from the online platform at the last second, with no reason given. I’m still kicking myself for having missed it.
Malick’s influence on 21st-century filmmakers has been nothing short of profound. Even the trailer for “Train Dreams” feels like a tribute to the nature-soaked imagery that has become synonymous with his work.
Bentley joins a growing list of filmmakers who have credited Malick as a key inspiration—among them Barry Jenkins, David Lowery, Lynne Ramsay, Jeff Nichols, Andrew Dominik, Chloé Zhao, and Trey Edward Shults.
Just look at these frames.
