Joel Edgerton, William H. Macy Confront a Rapidly Changing America in ‘Train Dreams’ Teaser Trailer
Felicity Jones and Joel Edgerton in 'Train Dreams.' Adolpho Veloso/Courtesy of Sundance Institute
Clint Bentley's adaptation of Denis Johnson's novella captures a quiet, poetic portrait of America in transition.
Joel Edgerton stars as Robert Grainier, a logger and railroad worker navigating a transforming American frontier, in the first teaser for Clint Bentley’s Train Dreams. Released Thursday, the period drama is set to premiere on Netflix November 21, following a limited theatrical run.
Adapted from Denis Johnson’s acclaimed novella, the film explores one man’s deeply personal journey across decades of hardship and change. Edgerton is joined by Felicity Jones as his wife Gladys, alongside William H. Macy and Kerry Condon. The teaser opens with Grainier reflecting solemnly: “I don’t know where the years go,” set against evocative imagery of the Pacific Northwest’s rugged landscapes and encroaching modernity.
Macy, playing explosives expert Arn Peeples, provides the film’s thematic anchor with a line delivered around a fire: “This world is intricately stitched together, boys. Every thread we pull, we know not how it affects the design of things.”
Premiering earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival, Train Dreams was met with glowing early reviews and will next screen at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film reunites Bentley with co-writer Greg Kwedar, following their Oscar-nominated prison drama Sing Sing.
Bentley has described the film as a meditation on lives lived outside the historical spotlight: “Most of us will never have some great impact on history, and yet we will lead very, very deep and beautiful lives. Grainier’s story is specific, but universally felt — about someone navigating a world that is leaving them behind, even as they live through it.”
POPULAR ON THE CINEMA GROUP
The Hollywood Reporter chief critic David Rooney praised the film as “perfectly formed” and positioned Bentley among essential American filmmakers.
Train Dreams is produced by Marissa McMahon, Teddy Schwarzman, William Janowitz, Ashley Schlaifer, and Michael Heimler, with executive producers Joel Edgerton, Scott Hinckley, Greg Kwedar, and John Friedberg.
Watch The Trailer Below:
