Wales Archives – CULTURE MIX

Review: ‘Brian and Charles,’ starring David Earl and Chris Hayward

June 14, 2022

by Carla Hay

David Earl and Chris Hayward in “Brian and Charles” (Photo courtesy of Focus Features)

Directed by Jim Archer

Culture Representation: Taking place in an unnamed rural village in Wales, the comedy/drama film “Brian and Charles” has a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few people of Asian heritage) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: A lonely, middle-aged inventor creates a talking robot to be his companion, but the local village bully is a threat to the robot’s safety.

Culture Audience: “Brian and Charles” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in endearing movies about unconventional friendships.

David Earl and Louise Brealey in “Brian and Charles” (Photo courtesy of Focus Features)

Simple yet effective, the comedy/drama “Brian and Charles” has witty charm that’s both low-key and laugh-out-loud funny. Audiences will root for the underdogs in this memorable story about a friendship between a lonely inventor and the outspoken robot he created. “Brian and Charles” (which had its world premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival) is also an admirable feature-film debut from director Jim Archer, whose previous work has been in television and short films.

Much of the creative success of “Brian and Charles” also comes from co-writers David Earl and Chris Hayward, who co-star in the movie as the title characters. Earl, Hayward and director Archer adapted “Brian and Charles” from their 2017 short film of the same name. At times, the feature-length version of “Brian and Charles” seems like a collection of skit scenes to stretch out a concept that was originally in a short film, but it doesn’t really feel like unnecessary filler since every scene has a purpose in the development of the movie’s characters.

“Brian and Charles” also doesn’t clutter up the story with too many characters. That’s mainly because the entire movie takes place and was filmed on location in an unnamed rural village in Wales. In this village, a middle-aged inventor named Brian (played by Earl) lives by himself in a very cluttered cottage that has a few other small buildings on the property. It’s a farm-like property where he can grow some of his own food, but he also goes to a local convenience store to buy anything else that he might need. The convenience store has a friendly clerk named Winnie (played by Lynn Hunter), who sees a lot of what’s going on with the villagers, since the store is the closest of its kind in the area.

“Brian and Charles” is filmed as if it’s a mockumentary, because an unnamed and unseen filmmaker is documenting Brian’s life. The director can be heard occasionally talking to Brian off-camera. Brian is an eccentric loner who makes things that no one really wants to buy. In the beginning of the movie, he talks about how he’s financially struggling. “I started making stuff, inventions, I guess,” he comments on how he coped with being a social outsider.

Brian shows some of his inventions that include an egg belt, which is essentially a tool belt made for eggs. Another “invention,” which is really just a fashion design, is a pine cone purse, which is basically a purse with pine cones glued to it. Brian mentions that when he’s not tinkering in his garage on his inventions, he sometimes likes to go to the local pub. At home, Brian’s only living companion is a brown mouse that he calls Mr. Williams.

One day, Brian happens to find the head of a male mannequin in a trash dump area. He brings this mannequin head to his home and announces to the camera: “I’m building a robot. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before.” Brian explains that he wants this robot to be “strong and agile,” so “it can help me with things around the house.”

It isn’t long before Brian has completed the robot (played by Hayward), which he proudly introduces. This robot, which stands about 7 feet tall, has artificial intelligence and a hodgepodge of body parts, including a midsection made from an old washing machine. Brian quips “I’ve learned that building a robot is much like making a cake. You start off wanting Victoria sponge, and it comes out like a blancmange. That’s fine, because I love blancmanges.”

Brian thinks that this robot will be a passive invention that will do whatever Brian tells it to do. But on a rainy night of thunder and lightning, Brian hears what appears to be an intruder rummaging around outside near the house. A terrified Brian goes outside and finds out the “intruder” is really the robot, which has found some cabbage that it wants to eat. The robot’s fixation on cabbage becomes a recurring joke in the movie.

Brian scolds the robot to put the cabbage down. But it’s at this moment that Brian knows that the robot has a mind of its own and is resisting Brian’s efforts to bring the robot in the house. “This is overwhelming,” Brian comments on discovering that this robot has a tendency to be defiant.

Eventually, Brian is able to calm down the robot, and Brian decides that it’s time to give the robot a name. It’s an amusing scene, where the robot recoils in displeasure when Brian first suggests the names Tony and Clive. The implication is that the robot thinks that those names aren’t “cool enough” or wouldn’t fit the personality for the robot.

But when Brian brings up the name Charles, the robot is pleased with that suggestion. The robot, whose voice sounds like a male computer voice, then adds that his name is Charles Petrescu. The name sticks, and the robot is officially named Charles.

Brian soon finds out that although Charles has encyclopedic knowledge about many things, Charles often acts like a rebellious kid who has to be told repeatedly what the house rules are. Charles often ignores the rules, much to Brian’s frustration. However, Charles is also a loyal companion to Brian.

Brian and Charles have fun playing outdoor games and watching television. There’s a funny montage of Brian and Charles bonding, such as dancing to the Communards’ cover version of “Don’t Leave Me This Way” in the kitchen, or doing outdoor activities while the Turtles’ “Happy Together” plays on the movie’s soundtrack. There’s also a sweet-natured scene when Brian and Charles tell each other, “I’m your friend.”

An example of how Charles whimsically reacts to the world is when Brian and Charles are watching television one day, and they see a travel report about Hawaii, including footage of hula dancers. Charles gets immediately excited and says that he wants to go to Hawaii, specifically Honolulu (which he has trouble pronouncing), but Brian says they can’t afford it. Not long afterward, Brian comes home to see Charles out in the yard wearing a hula dancer skirt made out of paper instead of grass.

Brian knows that Charles is special, so he’s very reluctant to tell or show other people that Charles exists. One of the main reasons for this secrecy is that the villagers live in fear of the village bully Eddie Tommington (played by Jamie Michie), a middle-aged brute who doesn’t hesitate to get violent when he wants to intimidate people. Eddie is also a thief who steals from the locals. And when he goes into the convenience store, it’s not unusual for Eddie to scare Winnie into letting him walk out with merchandise without paying.

Eddie lives in a ramshackle house with his girlfriend or wife Pam (played by Nina Sosanya) and his twin teenage daughters Katrina (played by Lowri Izzard) and Suki (played by Mari Izzard), all of whom are very crass and mean-spirited. Pam used to date Brian before she was with Eddie, although it’s never made clear how long ago Brian and Pam were involved with each other. Brian’s past with Pam is all the more reason for Eddie to have bad blood with Brian.

But someone in the village eventually does find out about Charles. Her name is Hazel, a shy middle-aged bachelorette (played by Louise Brealey), who lives with her domineering and cranky mother June (played by Cara Chase) and their pet parrot. From the moment that viewers see Charles and Hazel together, it’s obvious that these two lovelorn singles are romantically attracted to each other but are hesitant to do anything about this attraction.

Hazel finds out about Charles when she sees Charles in Brian’s truck after Brian has driven into town to do some shopping. Brian has decided that it’s time to bring Charles with him into town, so that Charles could see more of the village besides Brian’s property. Hazel takes an instant liking to Charles, who amusingly tries to be a little bit of a matchmaker, by encouraging Brian to ask Hazel out on a date.

Before Charles and Brian took their trip into town, there was some arguing between Charles and Brian over where Charles was going sit in the truck. Brian wanted Charles to sit in the back, while Charles insisted on sitting in the front. Charles got his way. During the trip, Charles asks Brian, “Are we there yet?” It’s another example of how the movie makes Charles a mixture of having the intelligence and identity of an adult but the impatience and curiosity of a child.

Eddie, who hosts a big bonfire party in the village every year, eventually finds out about Charles too. It leads to the movie’s main conflict, which plays out in a way that is somewhat predictable, but nevertheless emotionally touching. Eddie, Pam, Katrina and Suki aren’t much more than bully stereotypes, with no meaningful background information given on Eddie or anyone else in the household. Pam’s past relatonship with Brian is barely mentioned.

In the “oddball” friendship and comedic rapport between Brian and Charles, Brian is the obvious straight man to unpredictable and wacky Charles. However, what the movie does so well is show how both of these friends end up learning from each other in ways that they did not expect. Hayward’s hilarious physical and vocal performance as Charles will convince viewers that this robot has a true personality and not just artificial intelligence.

Some viewers might be disappointed in “Brian and Charles” if they’re expecting to see more action-adventure scenes in the movie. It’s definitely more of a “slice of life” film that focuses on everyday occurrences instead of trying to have exaggerated or outlandish escapades for this unusual robot and its inventor. For audiences who like movies about ordinary people who go out of their comfort zones and learn from these experiences, “Brian and Charles” offers a poignant and delightful story that leaves quite an impression.

Focus Features will release “Brian and Charles” in select U.S. cinemas on June 17, 2022.

Review: ‘The Feast’ (2021), starring Annes Elwy, Nia Roberts, Julian Lewis Jones, Siôn Alun Davies, Steffan Cennydd, Lisa Palfrey and Rhodri Meilir

January 5, 2021

by Carla Hay

Annes Elwy in “The Feast” (Photo courtesy of IFC Films/IFC Midnight)

“The Feast” (2021)

Directed by Lee Haven Jones

Welsh with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in an unnamed city in Wales, the horror film “The Feast” features an all-white cast of characters representing the working-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A mysterious woman is hired to be a cook/server for an upcoming dinner party in a wealthy family’s countryside home, but strange and sinister things occur before, during and after this meal.

Culture Audience: “The Feast” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in watching European horror movies that take their time to get to the biggest action scenes.

Steffan Cennydd and Annes Elwy in “The Feast” (Photo courtesy of IFC Films/IFC Midnight)

“The Feast” is a horror movie that’s a cautionary tale about the gluttony of pillaging the environment. It’s a deliberately paced film whose plot stumbles a bit in the last third of the movie, but it has enough gruesome images and haunting themes to make an impact. People with short attention spans might not enjoy the movie as much people who have the patience to watch a story unfold, bit by bit.

Lee Haven Jones, a director who has worked mostly in British television (on shows such as “Dr. Who” and “The Long Call”), makes his feature-film directorial debut with “The Feast,” which was written by Roger Williams. The movie is set in an unnamed Welsh countryside city in the present day, but the costume design and production design bring an otherworldly, timeless quality to the film that doesn’t peg it to a specific year in the 21st century. Because the entire film takes place on the wooded property of a wealthy family, the atmosphere of the film is intentionally isolating.

“The Feast” begins with the arrival of a temporary worker in her 20s named Cadi (played by Annes Elwy), who has been hired to be a cook/server for the family’s upcoming dinner party in their mansion. Yes, it’s another horror movie about a mysterious employee who works in a mansion in the woods, and then bad things start to happen. However cliché that concept might be, “The Feast” at least takes it step further by being more than just a violent gorefest horror flick.

The lady of the house is family matriarch Glenda (played by Nia Roberts), who is annoyed that Cadi has shown up late. Glenda scolds Cadi: “We’re a long way from town, but I did give directions. Did you follow them? It doesn’t matter. You’re here now.” Over time, viewers see that Glenda is pretentious and very particular about the image that she and the rest of the family project to the outside world.

Cadi was hired as a sudden replacement for a woman named Lynwen, who became ill earlier that week. Glenda is supervising the cooking for this dinner, which will be a three-course meal for seven people. Cadi spends most of her time in the kitchen and in the dining room, but she still finds time to wander around the property.

Cadi is quiet but appears to be easily agitated by sights and sounds of hunting, which is a frequent activity of the men of the house. Glenda’s husband Gwyn (played by Julian Lewis Jones) has hunted rabbits that will be served during the banquet. When he plops two dead and bloody rabbits on the kitchen countertop, Cadi acts very disturbed. And when the couple’s younger son Guto (played by Steffan Cennydd), who is in his late teens or early 20s, shoots a gun in a nearby field, the sound of the gun frightens Cadi so much that she crouches down in fear.

It doesn’t take long for Cadi to find out that this is a dysfunctional family. Glenda and Gwyn have two sons: Elder child Gweirydd (played by Siôn Alun Davies) is an obsessive overachiever type who left his job as a hospital doctor to go into intense training for a triathlon. Younger child Guto, the “black sheep” of the family, is a needle-using drug addict who has been in rehab and who has overdosed at least once.

Cadi’s arrival at the house piques the interest of the three men who live there, and she shows some curiosity too. Gweirydd immediately stares lecherously at Cadi. Later, she spies on Gweirydd while he shaves his pubic hair in a sauna. Cady seems more attracted to Guto, who accidentally injured his foot outdoors when a metal part of fence dropped on his foot. What happens to this foot injury later in the movie is not for the faint of heart.

After seeing Cadi’s horrified reaction to the dead rabbits, Gwyn tells Cadi that he’s sorry that he scared her. “I want to be your friend,” Gwyn tells Cadi. It’s an odd thing to say to a stranger who’s been hired to work in the home for just one evening.

But things get even more bizarre. Soon, it becomes obvious that Cadi is not a “normal” employee. She secretly spits in the food when no one is looking. And when she has some free time alone, she goes in Glenda’s bedroom, tries on some of Glenda’s perfume, and then starts laughing like a maniac.

The guests at this dinner party are a businessman named Euros (played by Rhodri Meilir) and a farmer’s wife named Mair (played by Lisa Palfrey), who have not been invited just as a social visit. Euros describes his job this way: “I help small businesses find ways to make money with their assets.” And it turns out that Gwyn wants Mair to convince her husband Iori to sell their farm land so that consortium can use the land for drilling purposes. Iori is presumably the third guest who was expected at this dinner party, but he is not in attendance.

This fateful dinner party is really the catalyst for most of the horror action that takes place in the movie. Because the dinner party doesn’t happen until the last third of the movie, viewers must have patience and observe all the clues that explain what happens toward the end of the movie. One of the first signs that something terrible is about to happen is when Glenda shows off the house’s sauna/retreat room to Mair, which Mair thinks looks more like a prison cell. Shortly before they leave, Glenda notices a red feather float down, seemingly from out of nowhere.

“The Feast” is perfectly adequate when it comes to the performances of the cast members. Some viewers will think that the movie takes too long to get to the big scares. (“The Feast” spends a lot of time on the family squabbles and images of the meal being prepared.) Still, director Jones capably handles the film’s brooding atmosphere and how the movie’s feeling of dread slowly increases as time goes on in the story. The most memorable characteristic of “The Feast” is in how its intended message sneaks up on viewers, but it’s cloaked in a very creepy and brutal horror movie.

IFC Films/IFC Midnight released “The Feast” in select U.S. cinemas on digital and VOD on November 19, 2021.

Review: ‘Dream Horse,’ starring Toni Collette and Damian Lewis

May 23, 2021

by Carla Hay

“Dream Horse”

Directed by Euros Lyn

Culture Representation: Taking place from 2002 to 2009, in various parts of the United Kingdom (particularly in Wales), the dramatic film “Dream Horse” features an almost all-white cast of characters (with one person of Indian/South Asian heritage) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A middle-aged woman, who works as a bartender and a supermarket cashier, convinces people in her working-class neighborhood to pool their money to breed a racehorse, despite knowing that they have a lot of odds stacked against them that the horse will become a champion.

Culture Audience: “Dream Horse” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in “against all odds” stories and movies about horse racing.

Pictured in front row: Owen Teale, Toni Collette and Damian Lewis in “Dream Horse” (Photo by Kerry Brown/Bleecker Street and Topic Studios)

“Dream Horse” is an against-all-odds horse racing story that is utterly formulaic but completely charming, thanks to admirable performances from the cast, led by Toni Collette and Damian Lewis. The movie is based on a true story, which is why even some of the far-fetched moments have a tone of authenticity. You don’t have to be a fan of horse racing to enjoy the movie, because it’s ultimately a story about the triumph of underdogs and anyone who is often underestimated.

Directed by Euros Lyn and written by Neil McKay, “Dream Horse” begins in 2002, with a look at the humdrum life of Jan Vokes (played by Collette), a middle-aged Brit who is barely making ends meet with two jobs in the former mining village of Cefn Fforest in South Wales. By day, she works as a supermarket cashier. By night, she’s a bartender at a social club whose attendees are mostly middle-aged and elderly people. In addition, Jan has to care for her elderly, ailing parents Bert (played by Alan David) and Elsie (played by Lynda Baron), who has to use a wheelchair after experiencing a fall.

Jan’s home life and marriage are pretty stagnant at the beginning of the story. Her husband Brian (played by Owen Teale) barely pays attention to her, especially when he’s watching farming shows on TV. Brian used to be physically active, but his arthritis has left him unable to work, so Jan is the breadwinner for the household. Jan mentions to Brian that it would be easier to take care of her parents if her parents lived with her and Brian, but Brian doesn’t really respond to that suggestion.

Jan and Brian have two adult children named Dennis and Sasha, who are mentioned but not seen in the movie, since they no longer live with Jan and Brian. These “empty nest” spouses love animals, so they have ducks, a whippet and several pigeons that are part of their household too. Jan bears most of the responsibility for taking care of everyone in her household. And it’s starting to weigh heavily on her.

Brian and Jan are in no danger of breaking up, but Jan feels underappreciated, bored and stuck in a rut. One evening, while working at her bartender job, Jan ovehears a man talking happily and enthusiastically about the race horse that he used to own with a syndicate. The man is sitting at a table with a group of five other men, and he has the group enraptured with his stories.

Jan asks her boss Gerwyn Evans (played by Steffan Rhodri) about this charismatic man. She finds out that his name is Howard Davies (played by Lewis), and he’s a horse racing enthusiast who nearly lost everything (his life savings, house and marriage) after his horse racing syndicate went out of business. Howard now works as a corporate accountant for wealthy clients, and most of his job entails helping his clients legally avoid paying taxes.

Jan is so intrigued by Howard’s passion for horse racing that she begins to research what it takes to own a race horse. She starts by picking up a Horse & Hound magazine at her job. In the magazine, she sees an ad for the latest edition of “Directory of the Turf: The International Guide to Horse Racing.” She buys the book and finds out that it would be possible to breed a racehorse with people in her working-class neighborhood if they pooled their resources for a few years.

The first person Jan shares this idea with is Brian, who is immediately skeptical. His reaction is to laugh and say, “It’s absolute madness!” Undeterred, Jan convinces Brian to help her buy a mare named Rubell. The next step will be to take the mare to get impregnated by a stud stallion, which costs money that Jan and Brian don’t have.

It’s now 2003, and Jan puts her plan into motion to get people in the economically depressed neighborhood to pool their resources and form a horse racing syndicate. When Jan sees Howard at her bartender job, she tells him about her idea for the townspeople to form a syndicate, and she asks him for his expert advice. Howard tells Jan, “It’s mostly wealthy, professional men who go for this kind of thing.”

Jan replies with a huff, “I wasn’t asking for your help anyway.” Because she’s strong-willed and determined, Jan decides to see what she can do on her own to form the syndicate. She makes flyers that say, “Breed a Horse to Get on Course!” The flyers are for the first meeting for potential syndicate members. But when Jan hands out the flyers on the street outside of a facility that takes bets on horse races, she experiences unenthusiastic and apathetic responses.

Jan also puts up flyers around the neighborhood about this first meeting, which will be held at the social club where she works as a bartender. The evening of the meeting, the turnout starts out as dismal: The only attendees are Jan, Brian, Howard and Gerwyn. About 15 minutes after the meeting starts, just as they start to think that they should cancel the meeting, one person arrives, then another, and then another, and so on.

Eventually, 18 people decide to join the syndicate (some of them joined after the first meeting), with Jan as the unofficial leader, since the syndicate was her idea. Most of the group consists of middle-aged people, but there are a few people under the age of 40 and a few who are elderly. During their first meeting, they also agree that no major decisions will be made without putting the decisions up for a group vote. Howard also warns the group that there’s less than a 1% chance that the horse they’ll breed will win a race, but no one backs out of this risky business venture.

The next order of business is to get Rubell impregnated. The syndicate raises enough money for Jan and Brian to take Rubell to a stud farm, where Rubell is matched with a stallion with a race horse lineage. Rubell gives birth to a colt, but she dies shortly after giving birth. Jan and Brian feel even more dedicated to taking care of this colt, now that he is an orphan.

During a syndicate meeting, the group votes on what to name the colt. Jan comes up with the name Dream Alliance (which is a nod to their group), and this name suggestion gets the most votes. Dream Alliance is now on his way to becoming a race horse, but only after he gets the proper training, which requires more money. Because of his experience as an accountant, Howard takes on accounting duties for the syndicate.

By 2006, the syndicate has raised enough money for Dream Alliance (now 3 years old) to be sent to a race horse trainer. Howard suggests Philip Hobbs (played by Nicholas Farrell), who runs one of the best horse racing training facilities in Wales. Jan and Brian bring Dream Alliance to the training facility, with the assumption that Howard made an appointment for them.

But to Jan and Brian’s dismay, Philip tells him that he’s never heard of Howard, and he doesn’t have time for them if they don’t have an appointment. Jan angrily says she can take Dream Alliance to a competitor. Philip sees that Dream Horse might have potential, based on the horse’s physique, and that Jan and Brian have already traveled a long distance to get to the facility. And so, Philip changes his mind and agrees to give Dream Alliance a test run.

You know what happens next: The horse starts off kind of shaky, but then gets the hang of it and starts running like a potential champion. Philip agrees to take on Dream Alliance for training. Then there’s the predictable scene of Jan giving an emotional goodbye to Dream Alliance, since the horse now has to live at the training facility.

The rest of the movie is exactly what you would expect it to be. There are victories and disappointments. And there’s one major championship race at the very end (the 2009 Welsh National), where Dream Alliance faces his biggest challenge after a potentially career-ending setback. Getting him to that race is also fraught with tension because members of the syndicate have different opinions on whether or not Dream Alliance should be in that race.

In “Dream Horse,” Jan is depicted as the driving force and leader of the syndicate, but there are other members whose personalities get some screen time. Brian is Jan’s supportive husband who usually takes her side when the group members disagree. Their involvement in the syndicate also puts a spark back into their marriage.

However, they have a big argument where Jan tells Brian that she thinks he’s become too complacent in life. Jan shouts, “When I first met you, you were a fighter! Now, you just accept things, and you don’t fight anymore!” Brian replies in a resigned tone, “So what your dad said was right: You could’ve done a lot better for yourself.”

There’s another hint that Jan has “daddy issues” when she gets upset with her father Bert for not seeming to care about her horse racing activities whenever she brings up the subject to him. Bert’s seeming indifference is hurtful to Jan, because when she was a child, Bert and Jan spent a lot of father-daughter time getting involved in animal races. These memories are part of one of the most tearjerking scenes in the movie.

Howard is extremely passionate about horse racing, but it’s come at a cost of nearly losing the trust of his wife Angela Davies (played by Joanna Page), who has made Howard promise her that he won’t get involved in horse racing again after it nearly ruined them financially. At one point in the movie, Howard confides in Jan about something from his family’s past (which won’t be revealed in this review) that heavily influenced him to follow his dreams in horse racing. There comes a point in the story when Howard has to decide how much longer he can keep his return to horse racing a secret from Angela and if he wants to stay in the corporate accounting job that he despises.

Other members of the syndicate who get notable screen time include:

Gerwyn Evans, Jan’s bartender boss, who is the most likely to see Dream Alliance as a money-making entity.
Maldwyn Thomas (played by Anthony O’Donnell), a know-it-all who likes to do a lot of research.
Anthony Kerby (played by Karl Johnson), who’s a “no filter” drunk in his 70s and who provides most of the movie’s comic relief.
Maureen Jones (played by Siân Phillips), a lonely retiree who has a fondness for eating Tunnock’s milk chocolate tea cakes.
Peter Woodall (played by Asheq Akhtar), a co-worker of Howard’s and the only person of color in the group.
Gordon Hogg (played by Brian Doherty), a co-worker of Howard’s.
Kevin “Kev” French (played by Rhys ap William), a neighbor of Howard’s.
A goofy man in his early 20s nicknamed “Goose” (played by Darren Evans), the youngest member of the group.
Nerys Driscoll (played by Di Botcher), who likes wearing straw hats.
Lee Baldwin (played by Gerald Royston Horler), who is Alun Baldwin’s brother.
Alun Baldwin (played by Rhys Horler), who is Lee Baldwin’s brother.

There are times when the syndicate has to choose between greed and the well-being of Dream Alliance. Naturally, when Dream Alliance starts winning major races, he catches the attention of a wealthy horse owner named Lord Avery (played by Peter Davison), whose champion horse Fearless Pursuit is one of Dream Alliance’s competitors. Not surprisingly, there’s conflict in the group over money issues and control.

It’s easy to predict which members of the syndicate will clash the most with Jan, who is not motivated by making money from Dream Alliance but is motivated by the pride and joy that Dream Alliance is bringing to their community. And it also isn’t too surprising when some members of the group remind Jan that she’s not allowed to have too much power in the syndicate, since all of the members of the group have to vote on major decisions together.

“Dream Horse” has perfectly satisfactory direction in its thrilling horse race scenes, as well as the interactions that the humans have with each other. Collette’s Jan character is really the heart and soul of the story though. When she finally starts to smile and feel like her life matters, her happiness is infectious to the people around her and to people who watch this movie. Jan’s transformation is a reflection of this movie’s message that this race horse was never about the prize money but about what can happen when people take big risks on a dream, even with seemingly huge obstacles in their way.

Bleecker Street and Topic Studios released “Dream Horse” in U.S. cinemas on May 21, 2021. The movie’s VOD and digital release date is June 11, 2021.