REVIEW: ‘HORSE GIRL’ AMBITIOUS FOR NETFLIX

LIAM EASLEY, ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Sarah led a simple life of horses, crafts and television shows before it all crumbled around her. Netflix recently released “Horse Girl,” an original film that followed the life of Sarah and her quest to find out whether the conspiracy theories she based her life on are true or if she made it up.

Sarah was a worker at a craft and fabric store and lived a relatively reclusive life with minimal friends.

At home, she did crafts and watched “Purgatory,” a supernatural crime show similar to the popular series “Supernatural.” One night, her roommate brought her boyfriend and his roommate over to have a double date, and the four became intoxicated.

That night, Sarah went to sleep and had a bizarre dream that involved two strangers. Afterward, the narrative became twisted with many split ends, each one leading to an obscure conclusion among the spiraling plotline.

Some plot points never reached a complete conclusion, and a lot was left to interpretation, but the main plot was plagued with topics of aliens, time warping, cloning and conspiracy theories.

The film was very intriguing. The plotline played with the ideas of multiverses and alternate dimensions effectively, and with the mentioning of time being on a loop numerous times throughout the movie, time play would have been the most successful plot to settle on.

However, the last few minutes of the film proved to be very underwhelming and disappointing, using the paranormal as a scapegoat for the narrative debauchery that took place. Some sources claimed that the ending of the film was supposed to encapsulate psychotic depression, but this seemed like another scapegoat in order to save a film with such strong videography and cinematography.

The film’s cinematography was its strongest area. The film followed a very modern style of cinematography with a lot of still shots and interesting lighting. There were moments that were a clear nod to Giallo films like “Blood and Black Lace” or “Deep Red” with contrasting lighting and jazzy music. There was also a slight focus on female sexuality, another common theme in Giallo films.

“Horse Girl” also had a very strong soundtrack. With electronic and jazzy themes bouncing off each other, it was discordant and eerie while also being fast-paced at times. While “Horse Girl” garnered a lot of praise for its enthralling capabilities, there were clear flaws within the plot.

However, there was one more error that should be noted, and that was the title. No one expected a movie called “Horse Girl” to be a drama/thriller. I was expecting a drama or maybe a comedy that had more to do with a girl and her horse, but Sarah’s horse, Willow, had little screen time and only played an important role in an unimportant side plot.

Overall, “Horse Girl” was a lot to take in at once. It might even require multiple views, but who is actually going to put in the time for that? The twisting narrative was follow-able on a narrow margin, and the final outcome was disappointing. While the film can be highly praised for its artistic touch, it falls short of what makes a good narrative: a smooth plot.