Review: TRAIN DREAMS (Netflix)

As a composer, I'm always seeking inspiration from the latest films and their scores. Last night, I settled down to watch TRAIN DREAMS (2025) on Netflix. I expected an easy distraction from the cold december night, but discovered a film that's quiet beauty has stayed with me long into the morning. It tells the story of Robert Grainier (Joel Edgerton) and his life as a logger and railroad worker in the Pacific Northwest at the turn of the 20th century. Post WWI economic conditions are harsh, and the climate is unforgiving. Robert's work keeps him away from his wife (Felicity Jones) and child for long stretches of time and their absence weighs heavy on him.

The film is sumptuously peaceful with a dreamlike earthy quality. You couldn't call it plot heavy and yet I found myself mesmerised by the way it captures the feeling of life in all its raw wild beauty. Days of joy, intermingled with random cruelty and sadness. The delicate quiet introspection of the human mind roaming memories past and questioning its purpose in the unrelenting span of earth's existence.

Robert is a character seemingly carried along in the ebb and flow of life, rather than controlling its tides. But aren't we all? Are you the master or the follower of your fate? ...

The cinematography is stunning. A visual jewel of nature in all its seasons. The performances are lived in and deeply felt (with a very fine appearance from William H. Macy as an old logger steeped in the wisdom of his years) and then there's the score.

Composed by Bryce Dessner (of The National) the score elevates the film to a higher realm. Moments reminded me distinctly of Terence Malick's Tree of Life - sunlight glancing through branches in an endless sky and Robert's baby daughter smiling as his fingers play with the flickering shadows of candlelight. Dessner's score soars with organic textures. Soft piano touches and harmoniums, rich tapestries of cellos and violins weaving melodies around each other.

It's a score that is fragile and alive, full of colour and warmth. The tenderest of feelings played out like the lone call of a blackbird in a vast forest.

As a composer myself, it's the kind of style and quality I aspire to. One that reminds you what life is all about. Plain, simple living, moment to moment - drinking in the awe of being alive in this brief passage of time.

Review by Cathryn Bell