I saw the lovely "Train Dreams" first, based on a 2011 novella by Denis Johnson, directed by Clint Bentley, and starring Joel Edgerton.
In the early 1900s, we meet our main character Robert Grainier, played with beautiful, skillful restraint by Edgerton, who arrives in Idaho without direction or purpose. He soon falls in love and marries a young woman and they have a baby girl. But Robert must provide and he goes to work on the Spokane International Railway, but the work is perilous and takes him away from his new family for long periods.
This compact tale is spare in its words and explanations, a characteristic I appreciate in film. It feels like a novella, in the best way. The actions tell the story here against a lyrical, majestic backdrop of forests and trees: the cinematography is something to weep over, it is so beautiful at times. Indeed, it reminded me of a Terrence Malick film with its achingly gorgeous and still meditations on nature and place. The production design is exquisite. And of course the acting is perfect, with everyone exhibiting the kind of stoicism that surely must have been required of anyone making their own way on the frontier, building their own cabin, surviving harsh winters, a scarcity of food, and a lack of money or work. At its heart, it is a tale about a man who does not have the vocabulary to express the tragedies that befall him...no way to understand the pain. But rather than be a downward spiral, the film leaves us with the sense that, as human beings, we can weather a lot and still stay on our feet, despite us wanting to lay down, to give up. Life is something to go through rather than around, even when it seems impossible to do so.
Next is the "The History of Sound" directed by Oliver Hermanus and written by Ben Shattuck, who adapted his short stories "The History of Sound" and "Origin Stories".
As mentioned, these two films, while different in subject matter, feel like a sip of water from the same well. They cover a similar time frame, and have a similar cinematography, capturing nature in a wide, wondrous way. In 1917, Lionel Worthing (Paul Mescal whom I adored in "All Of Us Strangers" seen here) meets David White (Josh O'Connor who was heartbreaking in "God's Own Country" here) while they are both attending the New England Conservatory of Music. They bond over their shared love of traditional and folk music, and are soon acting on their attraction to each other. They begin an affair they must, of course given the time period, keep secret. Unfortunately, David is drafted into the army to fight in World War I but upon his return, reconnects with Lionel. David invites him on a trip around the east coast to collect folk music from rural areas and the two set off on foot for an adventure. Their love deepens but, again in this time period, there is no scenario where they can be a couple and move into the world with any level of acceptance and hope of a successful life. Much like Robert in "Train Dreams" one of them is left to make sense of their time together, without being able to properly express it. Both of these films are gentle, tender stories that explore areas of the heart that are usually left unspoken, filled with things--love and loss--that endure even when, or because they hurt.
"Train Dreams" is nominated for Best Picture at the 2026 Oscars, while "The History of Sound" was nominated for the prestigious Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
Recommend? Absolutely, both films are gifts for the eyes and the heart, and the places they can take you to deserve to be recognized, to be held and kept company.
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