Train Dreams review
By Joel Humphries · Watched 11.07.25
★★½ 2.5 / 5
Spoiler-free review
Train Dreams is an exquisitely photographed meditation on existential angst that left me admiring nearly every image and struggling to remain interested in the life inside them. Readers of Denis Johnson’s novella describe the adaptation as remarkably faithful, so anyone already attached to the book may find exactly the screen version they wanted. For me, the contemplative pace became boredom rather than transcendence, and nothing in the experience made me curious enough to seek out the source. Beautiful fan service is still fan service; those without the prior relationship may spend more time ruminating on the runtime than existence.
Full review — contains spoilers
I was really bored. The cinematography was amazing though.
This is basically a meditation on existential angst. Which I guess is great if you spend a lot of your time ruminating on such things.
Those who have read the novella say this was a perfect rendering of the book on screen. So there's that. Nothing about this makes me want to go back and read the novella, but my guess is that this will be good fan service for those of you who did and enjoyed it.