Train Dreams (2025)

Content by Tony Macklin. Originally published on November 30, 2025 @ tonymacklin.net.

Train Dreams (Netflix) is a paean to the human condition as the world undergoes monumental changes.

Based on the brilliant novella by Denis Johnson, Train Dreams follows Robert Grainier (Joel Edgerton), who lives through the age of the frontier spirit through the Industrial Revolution, to the space age, and beyond.

As the narrator (Will Hutton) says about the frontier, "That world is gone now." Train Dreams becomes a blend of history and myth.

Train Dreams focuses on Robert Grainier, who lives a basically itinerant life, working on trestles, bridges, and railways. He cuts down trees. But as he knows, after ten years, one bridge is replaced by another and is then obsolete.

At one point a young man says to him about an electric saw, "Let me do it, old man."

In 2025 we live in the age of vanity license plates. The frontier is a vague memory.

What gives Grainier's life meaning is when he meets Gladys (Felicity Jones), who shares a common spirit with him. They have a child together and live in a cabin in the wilderness.

When tragedy strikes, Grainier's life becomes partially delusional. He still works, but sits alone for long periods of time. He says, "Is that what I am -- a hermit?"

Edgerton gives a strong performance as Grainer, and Felicity Jones has great appeal as the woman he loves. William H Macy is effective as his best friend. When he ties his old friend's shoes, the narrator tells us, "Grainier was finished as a logger."

Director Clint Bentley creates a world in which nature is a memorable.main character.

Grainier was born in the mid-1880s, and lives until 1968. The film begins in 1917. Near the end, Grainier flies in a small plane, which turns his life upside down.

He accepts the "newness of experience."

It is a lesson that his life has taught him.

It is a lesson well learned.