Following a severe head injury, a horse trainer and rodeo rider struggles to comes to terms with the very different future he’s facing, in a story that blends fiction with the real-life experiences of Brady Jandreau.

Director: Chloé Zhao

Screenwriter: Chloé Zhao

Script source: Script Slug

Inspired by: The real-life experiences of horse trainer and rodeo rider, Brady Jandreau.

Synopsis:

*Spoilers* Renowned rodeo rider and talented horse trainer Brady Blackburn, 20s, suffers a severe head injury after being thrown from and stomped by a bronco. He checks himself out of hospital early and yearns to return to his life in the saddle. However, when it becomes increasingly apparent that his days of rodeo riding are over, Brady has to face a new reality. Living on the breadline with his father and autistic young sister on the family’s ranch in rural South Dakota, Brady is forced to earn a living away from riding, while continuing to exist in a world where horses, ranching and redoes are a way of life.  

Analysis:

*Spoilers* Most of the films we write about on this site fictionalise an episode from history. However, with The Rider, we have instead a melding of real-life and fiction, with non-actors playing their real-life roles and events dramatised from the young protagonist’s own experiences. The overall impact is a somewhat downbeat, emotionally raw and memorable film, which, it should be noted is a multi-award winner.

Brady Jandreau plays Brady Blackburn, whose life on screen unfolds much as Jandreau’s did in reality, beginning with a horrific head injury that forced him to recalibrate his life. Indeed, the video footage that Brady Blackburn watches is the actual accident that Brady Jandreau suffered.

The practice of using non-actors naturally lends the film a less-polished feel. This isn’t a criticism. Indeed, it adds a layer of authenticity and reality to the story to know that the people on screen aren’t acting a role; they actually live the lives they’re portraying on screen. This isn’t a Hollywood idea of how cowboys in South Dakota live; this is the real deal.

To really appreciate the story, you have to have an understanding of the cowboy life. Brady, along with writer/director Zhao, do an effective job of introducing us to this world of rodeo circuits, of broken bones and men shooting the breeze, of poverty and emptiness, of horses and bulls, of getting back in the saddle no matter what.

Overall, this a world with a very narrow definition of what it is to be a man. When Brady finds that he can no longer fit comfortably into this definition, his sense of worth and self are challenged. Whether and how he can adapt to this change forms the emotional heart of the story.

As the story progresses, we see it all along with Brady, the dangers, the hardships, the ugly realities, and the fine line between survival and death (both literally and figuratively).

Indeed, death and destruction are never far away, from the enforced shooting of an ailing horse to Brady’s heart-wrenching visits to see his once full-of-life buddy, who is living in a rehab centre following an accident that has left him incapacitated and with a severe traumatic brain injury. However, these moments are balanced by moments of equally uplifting beauty, such as Brady taming an unbroken horse (truncated real-life footage of Brady Jandreau working with the horse, who had never before been touched by a human) and his change in demeanour when he is back in the saddle.

While it takes place in a very specific world, this is a film that is highly relatable. Most of us have been through something negative in our lives that has changed its course and made us recalibrate, in the way Brady was forced to do. Throughout, we are constantly reminded that this is a story that is happening to real people in a real-world scenario, but which could very well be happening to anyone at any time; being derailed by an unforeseen event that changes how we view ourselves and the world.

A note about adapting the source material for the screen:

Overall, Jandreau has said the film is about 60% real and 40% fiction, with some changes made for dramatic effect and for narrative purposes.

This feeds in to what we’ve discussed before about adapting history for the screen. No matter how compelling the real-life material, an element of transformation is always required to shape a dramatic narrative while staying true to the spirit of the source material.

In this case, staying true to the spirit is not difficult when your fictional protagonist is played by his real-life counterpart, who literally brings his body, mind, heart and soul to the project.

Of course, this comes with its own challenges, as the line between fact and fiction is blurred.

Go further:

Watch the trailer for The Rider: