This is another film that went straight to the top of all of the critics’ lists. I wasn’t terribly enthusiastic about this one as I had it stereotyped as a cowboy film but it turned out to be better than I had expected. Most surprising of all is that its director Chloé Zhao was born in China, yet she somehow managed to make a very authentic film about modern rodeo riders in the US.

Brady Jandreau is a rodeo rider who has been seriously injured in a recent competition, necessitating surgery to replace part of his skull with a metal plate. He insists that he will return to rodeo once he has healed but he has trouble controlling the muscles of his right hand which tend to seize up. He lives with his father, a horse trader, and his younger sister who is autistic. When he realizes that his father has difficulties making ends meet and has to sell his horse, he takes up a humdrum job at the local supermarket despite its unglamorous nature. In his spare time, he visits his friend Lane Scott, a fellow rodeo rider who was once a famous star, but after suffering from an accident now has to live permanently in a care facility. He still does some riding as he helps others tame and train their horses but when he passes out after a prolonged riding session, his doctor warns that him that he will die if he keeps it up.

This film falls into the same genre as such such luminary titles as Black Swan and The Wrestler, being about performers who are so dedicated to their craft that they harm themselves. If anything this one is even more authentic than the others, if less dramatic. Brady Blackburn who plays the main character really is a rodeo rider and not a professional actor and those are his real family members who appear in the film. Lane Scott plays himself and his injuries are very much real. One might judge that Blackburn doesn’t emote enough especially in the heartbreaking scenes with his horses but I think that his straight-faced, reserved character works very well for this role. Even the less dramatic and more down to earth nature of this story makes it just a little bit more realistic.

To me, this film serves as an excellent example of how a skilled director keeps things tight and focused. When Brady settles for a boring, everyday job, a lesser director might have been tempted to have him being bullied by an overbearing boss but Zhao understands that the humdrum routine of the job itself already provides enough contrast to the excitement of the rodeo life. When he meets young fans while working, they could easily be shown as mocking him but instead they are understanding and express their hope to see him back in the ring soon. This helps cement the fact that the real conflict is within Brady himself, that however much he loves the rodeo life, it will kill him and he still has a responsibility towards his family who loves him.

This film doesn’t speak to me because I don’t share that culture and I have no admiration for a sport that I think is excessively dangerous and perhaps cruel to the animals that are used. But I can still recognize and acknowledge good craftsmanship when I see it and I am still astounded that a Chinese could have pulled this off.