The Rider

Name: The Rider
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Comedy, Romance, Western
Released: April 13, 2018
Duration: 104 min
Rating: 89
Cast: Brady Jandreau, Cat Clifford, Derrick Janis, Greg Barber, James Calhoon

2018

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 42 Critic Reviews

See All

USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 132 Ratings

See All

7.5

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

7.5	Your Score
7.5	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 132 Ratings

Would you like to write a review?

There is a 75 character minimum for reviews. If your review contains spoilers, please check the Spoiler box. Please do not use ALL CAPS. There is no linking or other HTML allowed. Your review may be edited for content. 0/5000

Check box if your review contains spoilers

Play Sound

Please enter your birth date to watch this video:

You are not allowed to view this material at this time.

The Rider

Now Playing: The Rider

Movie Details & Credits

Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: April 13, 2018 | R

Starring: Brady Jandreau, Cat Clifford, Derrick Janis, Greg Barber, James Calhoon, Lane Scott, Lilly Jandreau, Tanner Langdeau, Terri Dawn Pourier, Tim Jandreau

Movie Facts:

Named best picture of 2018 at the Gotham Independent Film Awards.

Summary: Once a rising star of the rodeo circuit, and a gifted horse trainer, young cowboy Brady is warned that his riding days are over, after a horse crushes his skull at a rodeo. Back home on the Pine Ridge Reservation, with little desire or alternatives for a different way of life, Brady’s sense of inadequacy mounts as he is unable to ride orOnce a rising star of the rodeo circuit, and a gifted horse trainer, young cowboy Brady is warned that his riding days are over, after a horse crushes his skull at a rodeo. Back home on the Pine Ridge Reservation, with little desire or alternatives for a different way of life, Brady’s sense of inadequacy mounts as he is unable to ride or rodeo – the essentials of being a cowboy. In an attempt to regain control of his own fate, Brady undertakes a search for new identity and what it means to be a man in the heartland of America.… Expand

Director: Chloé Zhao

Genre(s): Adventure, Drama, Comedy, Romance, Western, Music

Rating: R

Runtime: 104 min

See All Details and Credits

Watch Now

Buy on

Stream On

Expand

Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

100

The Playlist Bradley Warren

Jun 1, 2017

Focusing on the indigenous community of the Pine Ridge reservation, Zhao reimagines the entrenched masculine persona of the cowboy. The result is an entrancing, deeply moving effort, one that is certain to steal the hearts of audiences on its wider release. Read full review

100

Ann Hornaday

Apr 18, 2018

Filmed with widescreen grandeur on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, The Rider reinvigorates tropes from the western genre of men, horses, honor codes and vast expanses of nature with a refreshing lack of sentimentality, without sacrificing their inherent lyricism and poetry. Read full review

100

Movie Nation Roger Moore

May 9, 2018

The Rider is a docudrama as elegy, a slice of rodeo realism that both romanticizes and demythologizes the Cowboy Way in a corner of America where that still means something. Read full review

Moira Macdonald

Jun 11, 2018

Casting a dramatic film with nonactors is always a risky proposition; the fresh, natural presence of “real people” is sometimes outweighed by awkwardness when they have to deliver scripted dialogue. But Chloé Zhao’s dreamlike Western The Rider is one of those happy exceptions. Read full review

Mike D'Angelo

Apr 10, 2018

More retroactive documentary than docudrama, it’s remarkably effective at creating a sense of verisimilitude, and these non-actors seem far more comfortable in their own skin. Read full review

Mike Scott

May 23, 2018

While those aforementioned blockbusters offer a welcome dose of escapism, The Rider traffics in something considerably more affecting: authenticity. Read full review

Sam C. Mac

It manifests a mounting sense of disillusionment, suggesting that the rodeo lifestyle many characters so unreservedly romanticize often leads to physical and psychological ruin. Read full review

SEE ALL 42 REVIEWS

Write a Review

User Reviews

The3AcademySins

May 4, 2018

The Rider was a film that truly moved me in ways that I really did not expect it to. A haunting, beautiful reflection on what happens to people when their dreams die, and how clinging to a dream is sometimes more harmful than letting it go. Every single character in this movie suffers fromThe Rider was a film that truly moved me in ways that I really did not expect it to. A haunting, beautiful reflection on what happens to people when their dreams die, and how clinging to a dream is sometimes more harmful than letting it go. Every single character in this movie suffers from either an injury, disability, or impairment, and that was a really clever choice on the director's part. This is also a "docu-drama" based on a true story, with the actual people who this happened to playing themselves! That honestly makes it even more of an incredible film! The shots are gorgeous, and the west is really captured well on film. Brady was a very relatable character, and I was with him every step of the way. This is definitely not a film to be missed.… Expand

8 of 10 users found this helpful82

Bizzylorenzo70

Aug 11, 2018

Brilliant and mesmerizing movie shot with non-actors on a Lakota Sioux reservation in South Dakota. Brady Jandreau is superb in the lead role here, but truly the whole cast offers astounding realism. What makes it all the more remarkable is that the writer and director is a youngBrilliant and mesmerizing movie shot with non-actors on a Lakota Sioux reservation in South Dakota. Brady Jandreau is superb in the lead role here, but truly the whole cast offers astounding realism. What makes it all the more remarkable is that the writer and director is a young Chinese-born female filmmaker. Definitely not for action flick only viewers, but for those that can get into a low-key. cerebral, and often very dark movie then you may very well find this one to your liking.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

dannycvega

Apr 23, 2018

Visually stunning, emotionally arresting, and profoundly empathetic, I came into this movie not expecting too much from a horse film, and I left teary-eyed and satisfied. Reading some of the so-so reviews, it's clear that some reviewers are caught on the culture depicted and its greaterVisually stunning, emotionally arresting, and profoundly empathetic, I came into this movie not expecting too much from a horse film, and I left teary-eyed and satisfied. Reading some of the so-so reviews, it's clear that some reviewers are caught on the culture depicted and its greater context in America (horse culture = Trump country), these people have missed the mark entirely and frankly, should be kicked by a horse. This movie is great precisely because it is about truths much bigger than rodeos and bipartisan American politics. It will hit you in the heart if you let it.… Expand

4 of 5 users found this helpful41

GreatMartin

May 11, 2018

First, and foremost, "The Rider" is a highly recommended film though it is sad, depressing, poorly edited with the latter making it slow moving setting up the story.

Last week I saw "Lean On Peter" which was a story about a boy and a horse also sad but with a Hollywood ending that justFirst, and foremost, "The Rider" is a highly recommended film though it is sad, depressing, poorly edited with the latter making it slow moving setting up the story.

Last week I saw "Lean On Peter" which was a story about a boy and a horse also sad but with a Hollywood ending that just didn't fit. (Where is Elizabeth Taylor and "National Velvet" when you need them?)

The first startling thing about "The Rider", though not really known, is that it is based on a true story and includes the lead, his father, (Tim Jandreau) a man's man who finds it hard to express his love for his son and is also a man who has settled for less. His sister, Lilly (Lilly Jandreau) mentally challenged who clearly worships her brother and best friend, who have never acted before playing movie versions of themselves and all excellent, believable and honest as far as the audience can tell. Brady (Brady Jandreau) is a man with a dream who discovers he may not have that dream due to a severe injury when a horse stomped on his head in a rodeo. He sees the result of what can happen if he continues every time he visits his best friend Lane (the real Lane Scott) who can no longer speak or walk, is paralyzed and will likely spend the rest of his life institutionalized because of his rodeo life. The scenes between Brady and Lane are both sad and uplifting. We follow Brady as he clearly wants to get back into the rodeo life but while he is recovering he spends time training horses for which he seems to have a natural instinct for, almost as if he is a 'horse whisperer', especially for one horse called Apollo. We see what he wants to do and what he can do and whether he will have to compromise with his life. There is a lot of drama in following how and why Brady comes to the decision he does but it is more of the solving the mystery of the man than in 'dramatic' scenes, except, possibly, two scenes between him and his father.

In a way "The Rider" seems to be a look in the past but is still alive in South Dakota where the movie was filmed. His friends are cowboys as they are imagined by the audience but real. They drink, sit around campfires, play guitars, trade stories, pick on, care for and tease each other. You don't know if they are actors playing real people or real people acting in being themselves.

Chloe Zhao, the director/screenwriter of "The Rider" is a Chinese woman who lives in Colorado and has fallen in love with the people and the scenery of South Dakota, the latter photographed by Joshua James Richard. There is no debating of the beauty of that part of the country but the editor, Alex O'Flynn, allowed Zhao two too many moon and mountain shoots, too many plains scenes and, yes, as beautiful as they may be, too many similar horse scenes, slowing the movie down when they could have been cut without harming the movie, making it tighter. Is Brady Jandreau as stoic, as natural looking, as deep thinking in real life as he is in the movie?

Though I am sure there were no animals harmed in the making of the picture do we really have to see the skinning of a rabbit? There are 4-5 scenes of graphic injury to humans and animals, which are part of the life these people leave but it isn't necessary to show them and can just be indicated.

"The Rider" is a movie that caused a lot of the audience to talk to each other in the lobby and more than one asked about where it was filmed (didn't catch it in the credits) while many discussed the director. The most common question was, "What is Brady doing today?"

Along with all the questions and comments the audience tended to agree it was a sad and depressing movie but a powerful one.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

TVJerry

Jun 10, 2018

This film starts as a laconic look at a young rodeo rider who's suffered a major concussion (Brady Jandreau). As he begins to recover, he deals with the possibility that he'll never be able to compete again. By the end, it's become an intimate and compassionate portrait of this sweet,This film starts as a laconic look at a young rodeo rider who's suffered a major concussion (Brady Jandreau). As he begins to recover, he deals with the possibility that he'll never be able to compete again. By the end, it's become an intimate and compassionate portrait of this sweet, talented man. What makes this even more compelling is that the cast is full of non-actors, including Jandreau, his real-life father and his sister, who has Asperser's Syndrome. Their performances are all real and affecting. The scenes where Jandreau trains wild horses are especially fascinating. The creation of this specific cowboy world is made even more involving thanks to Chinese director Chloé Zhao's quiet observations and compelling use of real people (primarily Lakota Sioux). This is an atmospheric and ultimately touching character study set in a unique culture.… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

amheretojudge

Jan 14, 2019

The Bitter Truth.

The Rider Zhao's pathos drama that eerily is of an antithetical nature, proposes a much bigger question that every being lives for or has lived for. The theme somewhat resonates with Coen Brothers's Inside Llewyn Davis, only a bit less darker, but equally promising andThe Bitter Truth.

The Rider

Zhao's pathos drama that eerily is of an antithetical nature, proposes a much bigger question that every being lives for or has lived for. The theme somewhat resonates with Coen Brothers's Inside Llewyn Davis, only a bit less darker, but equally promising and inspiring. This character driven feature dwells upon the inner resistance of ones- drunken with oneself's attraction or weakness towards a subject and the conscience practical decision towards right and wrong- this is a film that required a narrator or an inner monologue. But Zhao's bold steps on not to keep one favors immensely on her side through her brilliant execution, these silent pitches where she milks out the essential drama remains the highlight of it.

And through brilliant performance and meticulous script that uses enough props to express views and intentions, the message is sound and clear. Another beautiful aspect of the feature is the interaction of our protagonist with horses, the way he tames and communicates with them, it doesn't require any verbal sparring to mesmerize you. And fabricating this drama into a compelling action, is Jandreau, delivering a stellar performance to observe at.

To be fair, his character is much more endearing than our usual protagonist is, he helps his friends even at their worst, he is protective and open to alienated concepts. The only part where he gets to be edgy and depict a darker side of his, is when he wrestles with a friend of his, which too is justified thoroughly. The conversations and the activities going around the room or a house is pretty much mundane and pragmatic that denses up the essence of the stakes stronger and impenetrable, like the usual conflict of his younger sister with her family that is kept burning throughout the course of the film. The Rider rides with an even stable pace to a more cozy state than it begins with.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

bataguila

Nov 14, 2018

Horrible, no pasa nada, su hermana lela no tiene caso, el no tiene caso, nada tiene caso, es aburrida, contemplativa, la tuve q adelantar para terminarla

1 of 8 users found this helpful17

SEE ALL 29 REVIEWS

14	#14 Best Movie of 2018
58	#58 Most Shared Movie of 2018