--- title: "Train Dreams: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/train-dreams/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/train-dreams" critics_score: 85 critics_reviews: 24 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Train Dreams (2025): what the critics said Critics' score 85 from 24 reviews: 24 positive, 0 mixed, 0 negative. The reviews are unanimous: all twenty-four are positive, and most are a good deal warmer than that. The praise clusters around Joel Edgerton as the logger Robert Grainier, whose restraint several critics call the best work of his career, and around Adolpho Veloso’s cinematography, which is described as painterly more often than not. Will Patton’s narration and Bryce Dessner’s score come up nearly as often. The Malick comparison is made so often it amounts to a consensus of its own. Where they part is on how much of this lyricism the material can bear. The Financial Times finds a strain of preciousness, Eye for Film a drift towards sentimentality, and Slant a gap between the film’s visual lushness and the terseness of Denis Johnson’s novella. These are gentle complaints; the spread runs from admiring to rapturous, with nothing beneath it. Even the most reserved critics, mostly in the British broadsheets, end up recommending it. ## The Times — Kevin Maher Rating ★★★★★. 5 November 2025. This stunner is hailed as an unforgettable frontier drama and the greatest Terrence Malick movie Malick never made. Superb performances from Edgerton and Jones lead a fable-like tale pulsing with awards potential. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/train-dreams-review-felicity-jones-joel-edgerton-6zlc2hxvk) ## Time Out — Ian Freer Rating 5/5. 6 November 2025. The critic hails it as a peach of a picture that is at once miniaturist yet epic and exquisite, touching every human emotion without contrivance or strain. They single out its elegiac character study of an ordinary life made rich and complex. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/train-dreams-review-2025) ## Vulture Fi1m's normalised score 95/100 (inferred from the text). 21 November 2025. Festival review. The critic hails the film as a staggering work of art and one of the year’s best, a trancelike adaptation that ruminates on the interconnectedness of life through Joel Edgerton’s performance, Will Patton’s narration, rapturous cinematography, and Bryce Dessner’s score. It praises the epic spirit and mythic grandeur lent to an ordinary man’s longing for peace and purpose. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/article/sundance-review-train-dreams-is-a-staggering-work-of-art.html) ## Los Angeles Times — Mark Olsen Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 6 November 2025. The film is told with unassuming, gentle simplicity that grows into accumulating emotional power, feeling small yet vast while exploring life's meaning in a lyrical way. It features a standout, fully realized performance from Joel Edgerton as the quiet logger Robert Grainier, supported by fine cinematography and period details. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2025-11-06/train-dreams-review-joel-edgerton-william-macy-felicity-jones-kerry-condon) ## Sight and Sound Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 5 November 2025. The critic describes the film as an extraordinary epic ballad of a railroad man that captures the dawning of a new America. They single out Joel Edgerton's career-best performance and America itself as the film's real star, noting its ambivalent view of progress. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/train-dreams-epic-ballad-railroad-man-captures-dawning-new-america) ## The AV Club — Jacob Oller Rating A-. 5 November 2025. The critic calls the film a thoroughly engrossing period piece of dreamy details, quietly told and expertly performed, that captures persistence through change in an awestruck, ethereal drama. It singles out the golden-hour nature photography, production design, and Joel Edgerton’s portrayal of a man haunted by universal regrets amid historical cruelties. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/train-dreams-review) ## The Hollywood Reporter — David Rooney Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 27 January 2025. Festival review. The critic praises Clint Bentley’s elegiac portrait of an ordinary logger’s life in the early 20th-century Pacific Northwest as an intimate drama with epic resonance, anchored by Joel Edgerton’s layered performance and Adolpho Veloso’s painterly cinematography. It highlights the film’s rapturous melancholy, noble resilience amid tragedy, and the cumulative weight of moments that define a life. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/train-dreams-review-joel-edgerton-felicity-jones-clint-bentley-1236118932/) ## The Observer — Wendy Ide Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 8 November 2025. This is called a superb adaptation that etches the sparse poetry of the source novella into every frame. The critic highlights the fragmented memories and fleeting encounters in the taciturn logger's life, plus strong work from Edgerton, Jones, and the cinematographer. [Read the review](https://observer.co.uk/culture/film/article/wendy-ides-pick-of-other-films-train-dreams-dragonfly-predator-badlands-the-choral-and-more) ## Empire — John Nugent Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 26 November 2025. The critic calls it a true hidden gem and meditative tone poem on living a good life. They single out Joel Edgerton's understated performance and the film's haunting, serenely composed beauty for praise. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/train-dreams/) ## IndieWire — Ryan Lattanzio Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 26 January 2025. Festival review. The review commends Joel Edgerton’s quietly hardened yet kind-eyed performance as the ruminating logger Robert Grainier in Clint Bentley’s rugged adaptation of Denis Johnson’s novella. It describes the film as a surreal and tragic Pacific Northwest fever dream that philosophically explores the character’s life. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/train-dreams-review-1235088471/) ## Little White Lies — Laura Venning Rating 3/4/4. 5 November 2025. The critic calls it a subtle, textured and moving adaptation evoking Malick's melancholy and grandeur. They praise Joel Edgerton's never-better performance as the quietly desperate Grainier. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/train-dreams) ## Radio Times — Tom Dawson Rating 4/5. The critic calls it a meditative drama channelling Malick that immerses viewers in Grainier's subjective experiences across decades. They single out the wonderful cinematography and Edgerton's moving restraint as the stoical protagonist. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-dr55r3/train-dreams/) ## Financial Times — Jonathan Romney Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 6 November 2025. The adaptation is a resonant and sensitive film about time outpacing us, centered on a lumberjack's transformative crises and lyrical family idyll in early 20th-century Idaho. It celebrates beauty while acknowledging elements of preciousness. [Read the review](https://www.ft.com/content/e958c682-ef34-406e-aaae-d24191b48143) ## Slant Magazine — David Robb Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 14 October 2025. Festival review. The review describes Clint Bentley’s film as an earnest elegy to the American frontier that surveys the era’s upheavals with an ambivalent eye, centered on Joel Edgerton’s subtle performance as the passive, bewildered logger. It notes the measured mythologizing and appealing take on the American story, while observing some disconnect between the visual lyricism and the terse source material. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/train-dreams-review-joel-edgerton/) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 6 November 2025. The critic praises this Malick-influenced adaptation of Denis Johnson's novella as a lovely-looking, deeply felt film with considerable power. Edgerton's restrained performance as the logger anchors the story of grief, labor, and fleeting happiness in early 20th-century Idaho. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/nov/06/train-dreams-reviewjoel-edgerton-denis-johnson) ## The Telegraph Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 8 November 2025. The film is described as a lyrical, consoling period piece that earns its novelistic quality in under two hours. It captures the plaintive beauty of the logger's marginal life with stunning photography and understated performances. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/train-dreams-netflix-joel-edgerton/) ## /Film — Chris Evangelista Rating 10/10. 19 November 2025. The critic calls the film one of 2025's best and a breathtaking adaptation of the novella. They single out Joel Edgerton's poetic quietude in the lead role for particular praise. [Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/2030913/train-dreams-review/) ## Collider — Ross Bonaime Fi1m's normalised score 95/100 (inferred from the text). 31 October 2025. The film is an absolute knockout and monumentally powerful story of a man living his life in early 20th-century America that will hit viewers at their core. It singles out the stunning visuals and Joel Edgerton's and Felicity Jones's tremendous performances for praise. [Read the review](https://collider.com/train-dreams-joel-edgerton-felicity-jones-netflix/) ## Paste — Jesse Hassenger Rating 8.5. 7 November 2025. The film chronicles the quiet passage of history and loss of time in a spellbinding way over a lifetime of enormous changes. It singles out Clint Bentley's direction and the performances, especially Joel Edgerton's career-best work, for praise. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/clint-bentley/train-dreams-joel-edgerton-felicity-jones-netflix-movie) ## The Playlist — Marshall Shaffer Rating A-. 31 January 2025. Festival review. The critic describes the film as a rhapsodic tribute that translates the novella into cinematic poetry with a career-best performance at its center. They single out the control over time and rhythm, gliding across a lifetime with grace and spiritual lift. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/train-dreams-review-a-career-best-performance-from-joel-edgerton-makes-a-poetic-slice-of-americana-soar-sundance-20250131/) ## Deadline — Damon Wise Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 9 November 2025. The film is a moving, masterful study of a working man’s life marked by love, loss and quiet acceptance. Bentley’s direction and the lead performances stand out for their grounded emotional depth and visual poetry. [Read the review](https://deadline.com/2025/11/train-dreams-review-clint-bentley-joel-edgerton-felicity-jones-1236611920/) ## Den of Geek — Joe George Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 10 March 2026. The critic finds the film a beautiful, heartbreaking work that uses its quiet protagonist and lyrical narration to explore America's unresolved sins of expansion, racism, and industrialization. It singles out the lush cinematography, score, and voiceover for creating emotional depth beyond the simple story of one man's life. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/best-picture-nominee-train-dreams-is-a-beautiful-movie-about-americas-sins/) ## The Wrap Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 26 January 2025. Festival review. Clint Bentley’s film is a patient, profound and painful historical drama with spectacular performances from Joel Edgerton and Felicity Jones. It stands out for its immersive, painterly visuals and delicate writing that captures intimate lives in the Pacific Northwest. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/train-dreams-review-joel-edgerton-felicity-jones-sundance/) ## Eye for Film — Amber Wilkinson Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 15 January 2026. The critic finds the adaptation a handsome take on an ordinary life deeply rooted in history and landscape, with a soulful central performance. They single out the attractive narration and cinematography for praise while noting a tendency toward sentimentality. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/train-dreams-2025-film-review-by-amber-wilkinson) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/train-dreams.md