Synopsis
While participating in a rehabilitation program training wild mustangs, a convict at first struggles to connect with the horses and his fellow inmates, but he learns to confront his violent past as he soothes an especially feisty horse.
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Cast
- Matthias SchoenaertsRoman Coleman
- Jason MitchellHenry
- Gideon AdlonMartha
- Connie BrittonPsychologist
- Bruce DernMyles
- Josh StewartDan
- Noel GugliemiRoberto
- Thomas SmittleTom
- Santina MuhaWoman
- Kelly RichardsonPrison Guard #2
Recommendations
- 83
The Film Stage
The prison drama is a well-worn sub-genre, ripe with predictive beats and expected narrative turns. Those behind this picture are determined to subvert those expectations, and the attempt–though not fully realized–is much appreciated. - 83
Entertainment Weekly
First-time feature filmmaker Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre brings a gorgeous, wide-open sparseness to her visual storytelling (it makes sense that Robert Redford, the original Sundance Kid, is listed as an executive producer), but it’s largely Schoenaerts’ movie to carry. - 83
The A.V. Club
It’s all well-trod territory. And yet — and here’s another cliché — The Mustang breathes new life into most of those conventions, thanks in no small part to Schoenaerts and his remarkable work. - 80
Variety
It’s a touching and original piece of bare-bones sentimental humanism, and Schoenaerts is terrific in it. - 80
The Hollywood Reporter
De Clermont-Tonnerre shows admirable restraint, knowing that, in her carefully constructed frames, it can be enough just to get Roman's newly compassionate eyes into a close-up with the expressionless eye of a horse. - 80
Los Angeles Times
Fascinating and frequently compelling, The Mustang is a hybrid, the unlikely combination of genres you wouldn’t think go together but are able to coexist thanks to an exceptional leading performance. - 80
Rolling Stone
Clermont-Tonnerre comes from a place of defiance, and her fearless instincts surge through every frame. Each time you think you have this movie pegged, it’ll knock you for a loop. - 75
IndieWire
A tense prison drama that’s penned into the trappings of a classic Western, The Mustang is a small movie about a subtle transformation, but its closing moments — however contrived they might be — are as touching as they are unexpected.
