HORSE GIRL: Hysteria, Horses & Heritage
Horse girl energy. That obsessive, girlish, charmingly innocent, and decidedly feminine phenomenon. The way in which a horse girl views the world is an all-in, brilliant technicolor viewpoint. Horse Girl uses “horse girl energy” to its full advantage in the character of Sarah and her all-consuming journey into her obsessions.
In Horse Girl, a socially awkward woman named Sarah (Alison Brie) spends her days consumed with her love of arts and crafts, horses, and television crime dramas. Gradually, her increasingly lucid dreams begin to trickle into her waking life triggering a slow descent into… possibly madness, possibly greater awareness? Who knows?
Jeff Baena (The Little Hours) takes the lead as director, sharing a writing credit with Alison Brie. Brie stars in the film alongside Molly Shannon, John Ortiz, Matthew Gray Gubler, and Jake Picking. The film premiered on January 27, 2020 at the Sundance Film Festival to mixed reviews.
The Delusion Is In The Details
The highest praise that can be heaped upon Horse Girl is its meticulous attention to detail. In many ways, it is a movie that you have to watch twice (which I did) because the hints and clues that are woven in are that much more amazing on the second viewing. In many ways, the audience is taken on the same descent into uncertainty as Sarah. We see the signs, but we’re not entirely sure of what is real.
Everything has meaning in Horse Girl. A color. A name. A passing moment in one scene slowly starts to bloom and spread across larger more significant moments in the film. A perfect illustration of this can be found in a peach-colored dress that Sarah inherited from her grandmother. The garment represents the connection of generations and Sarah’s own struggle to find an identity. Its peach color is likened to a symbol of protection that Sarah only briefly learns about in the opening scenes. The dress is one of many examples of how Horse Girl masterfully weaves small threads into a greater, glorious tapestry.
At times the thread becomes a little tangled, as Horse Girl is an incredibly difficult narrative to follow. The film, while incredibly interesting, is primarily carried by the strong performances of the cast. Alison Brie is doing incredible work in this film. It will not likely be her most memorable role, but it is perhaps among the most impressive showcases of her craft.
Horse Girls
A major theme of Horse Girl is trauma and psychosis, particularly as a matter of inheritance. In the context of the film, Sarah sits at the end of a long line of mental illness. Her grandmother, mother, and who knows how many ancestors prior suffered mentally, with devastating results. Something that Horse Girl does very well is acknowledge how mental health creates trauma in more ways than one. Outside of one’s own mental health matters, there is the trauma of being raised by and witnessing the struggles of those you love that share those illnesses.
Sarah represents the apex of inherited trauma and inherited sickness. She’s also a poster child for female hysteria. The notion of women having a special brand of insanity, we’ll say a more complicated relationship with matters of the mind, is nothing new in film. Horse Girl leans fully into this trope. It’s in the name. How fitting that a film about female psychosis be embedded in the language we’ve used to describe young women that are “off.”
The film’s unique brand of femininity is both its genius and its darkness. It captures the female experience in a way that is uncomfortable to watch and does it beautifully and thoughtfully. Well done.
The Darker Side of Horse Girl
Horse Girl sweeps the viewer up in its current and carries them away. Part of its brilliant execution of portraying mental illness is that it takes the viewer by the hand and drags them down the path. We see all of the same hallucinations as Sarah. We are just as unsure of what is and is not real.
In the final moments of the film, this critic was still unsure exactly what version of events I was supposed to believe. I was also left with deep, deep sadness. You get a real sense of what a nightmare extreme mental illness is for those that suffer and how it completely warps reality.
The overall strengths and weaknesses of Horse Girl can be found within its exploration. The narrative is confusing and surreal, which could just as easily be a writing flaw as it is a brilliant device. The imagery is bizarre, but bizarre and beautiful. Cinematography is a very strong point in Horse Girl. For this reason, the film is bound to be divisive. It will either compel or repel its audience, depending on how much this deeper portrayal of mental illness resonates with each viewer.
Horse Girl unfolds like a fever dream, appropriately. A twisting narrative built upon strong performances. The end is far from satisfying, but that’s part of its charm. Well worth the watch!
Horse Girl is streaming now on Netflix.
What did you think of Horse Girl? Let us know in the comments below!
Does content like this matter to you?
Become a Member and support film journalism. Unlock access to all of Film Inquiry`s great articles. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about cinema - get access to our private members Network, give back to independent filmmakers, and more.
