Train Dreams

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1:13

Train Dreams

In Theaters Fri Nov 7

1h 42m

Drama

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98%

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47 Reviews

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Based on the beloved novella by Denis Johnson, Train Dreams is the moving portrait of Robert Grainier (Golden Globe-nominee Joel Edgerton), whose life unfolds during an era of unprecedented change in early 20th century America. Orphaned at a young age, Robert grows into adulthood among the towering forests of the Pacific Northwest, where he helps expand the nation's railroad empire alongside men as unforgettable as the landscapes they inhabit. After a tender courtship, he marries Gladys (Academy Award-nominee Felicity Jones) and they build a home together, though his work often takes him far from her and their young daughter. When his life takes an unexpected turn, Robert finds beauty, brutality and newfound meaning for the forests and trees he has felled.

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In Theaters Fri Nov 7

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Critics Consensus

A gorgeous meditation on America, ably shouldered by one of Joel Edgerton's very best performances, Train Dreams takes on mythic proportions while maintaining an intimate emotional delicacy.

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Clint Bentley

Director

Joel Edgerton

Robert Grainier

Clifton Collins Jr.

Boomer

Felicity Jones

Gladys Grainier

Alfred Hsing

Fu Sheng

John Patrick Lowrie

Mr. Sears

Dwight Brown

DwightBrownInk.com

A dirge so solemn, viewers may exit this train before it arrives at its destination.

Rated: 2.5/4

Mar 8, 2025

Full Review

Justin Chang

The New Yorker

The result invites obvious yet not inapt comparisons to the work of Terrence Malick, but Bentley’s film unfolds in a more dramatically direct, compacted register.

Feb 12, 2025

Full Review

Nicolas Rapold

Financial Times

Bearing echoes of Kelly Reichardt’s 2019 film First Cow, Train Dreams taps into the rough-hewn pioneer poetry of individualism and brutality in a vast wilderness.

Feb 8, 2025

Full Review

Joonatan Itkonen

Toisto.net

This is one of the great films of the year. In time, it will become one of the best in a decade, then one of the movies that people speak of when asked what inspired them in their life. It is a masterpiece.

Rated: 5/5

Sep 27, 2025

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Kurt Halfyard

ScreenAnarchy

The slow cinema experience on offer with Train Dreams is well worth the trip -- if only because the plot of the film, and the antagonist as well, revolves around the passage of time. ... Elegiac experience in the dark. And also in life.   

Sep 22, 2025

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Danielle Solzman

Solzy at the Movies

[I]ts power lies in elevating one man’s ordinary path into something epic, a reflection of the American Dream and the harsh, breathtaking landscapes of the Pacific Northwest.

Rated: 4.5/5

Sep 21, 2025

Full Review

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Train Dreams: Teaser Trailer

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Synopsis

Based on the beloved novella by Denis Johnson, Train Dreams is the moving portrait of Robert Grainier (Golden Globe-nominee Joel Edgerton), whose life unfolds during an era of unprecedented change in early 20th century America. Orphaned at a young age, Robert grows into adulthood among the towering forests of the Pacific Northwest, where he helps expand the nation's railroad empire alongside men as unforgettable as the landscapes they inhabit. After a tender courtship, he marries Gladys (Academy Award-nominee Felicity Jones) and they build a home together, though his work often takes him far from her and their young daughter. When his life takes an unexpected turn, Robert finds beauty, brutality and newfound meaning for the forests and trees he has felled.

Director: Clint Bentley
Producer: Michael Heimler, Will Janowitz, Marissa McMahon, Ashley Schlaifer, Teddy Schwarzman
Screenwriter: Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar
Distributor: Netflix
Production Co: Black Bear, Kamala Films
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 7, 2025, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 21, 2025
Runtime: 1h 42m