Netflix's Train Dreams Was Overwhelmingly Sad At Times, But I'm Glad I Watched It

I attended the 61st Chicago International Film Festival and saw an early screening of Train Dreams. Unfortunately (or fortunately), there are too many exciting upcoming 2025 movies, so I hadn’t heard of the film before this viewing. However, I think Joel Edgerton and Felicity Jones are compelling actors, so I was curious to see what they'd bring to their roles.

I assumed the film would be a typical quest-for-the-American-dream story. It has those elements, but it’s a much more somber story about life and death.

Warning: minor Train Dreams spoilers are ahead. Proceed with caution.

I Think Train Dreams Is One Of The Best Movies On Death Because Of How It's Devastatingly Accurate On The Randomness Of It

There are many captivating and heartbreaking movies about death. Some tackle the suffocating and haunting nature of grief, while others just hurt because of who dies and how we watch the people close to them suffer from their loss. People who make movies love talking about death. It’s a topic that’s been repeatedly addressed in very profound ways, but I unexpectedly connected with the way Train Dreams director and co-screenwriter Clint Bentley captures the topic. I think I, and many, want to believe that we have some control over life and death.

We may know that, factually, death is often unpredictable and life can never be perfectly planned, but we want to believe otherwise to some extent.. Train Dreams shatters that false confidence. Robert Grainier (Joel Edgerton) doesn’t hide his fear of death. In his youth, he may have been more sure of his ability to survive, but once death starts randomly taking those around him, he knows it’s out of his control.

This film displays how random death can be, and even the most cautious cannot escape. It happens when it happens. Films like the Final Destination franchise and its best movies and deaths showcase our inability to escape death, but the dramatic and realistic nature of Train Dreams really drives home this scary, somber, and necessary truth of the unpredictability of death.

It Really Made Me Reflect On How Fleeting Life Can Be

I know I will die, and those who I love will die. However, knowing and experiencing it are a lot different. It’s something I dread but am conscious of the inevitability of it. While watching Train Dreams, I couldn’t help but reflect on how my life hopefully has a few more decades left, at least, but I cannot possibly know this as truth. I could easily no longer be living at any moment in time. The fear of mortality makes you want to treat life better.

We are fortunate to get to live, but it’s not something always treated like a gift. This film forces introspection and questioning whether you’ve done enough with your one wondrous life. It makes you not want to live for an unpromised tomorrow. It makes you hope for a long life but feel an urgency to create more memories and savor the ones that have passed.

Train Dreams Also Made Me Think Of Our Connection To Nature And The Cycle Of Life

Train Dreams has an environmentalist lean. It’s not an outwardly "protect the environment" film, but it has aspects of it. Robert cuts down trees for a living. He works with other men who do the same, and some of them discuss how it’s wrong to continuously cut down trees because of their richness and history. It’s a disruption of the natural life and death cycle. At some moments, it feels like nature rebels against these men because of their crimes against it.

By cutting or tearing things down, a natural balance is disturbed. Nature doesn’t just suffer but man as well. I think the story subtly addresses nature and environmental elements; they exist in the flesh of this movie. To honor life and death is to also honor and respect the environment and nature.

I Felt An Overwhelming Sadness About Life And Death, But I Think That Shows The Movie Got Its Messages Across

This isn’t one of the saddest movies you’re going to see on Netflix, but it definitely presents you with overwhelming feelings of dread and despair at times, in how realistic and random these deaths feel. Anyone can and will die at any given moment. It’s a sad reality that many of us try to run away from. We just want to enjoy our time on Earth. However, you can’t watch films like Train Dreams and not feel a deep sadness.

Not only for these characters, but life in general. No matter who you are or what you do or don’t accomplish, it ends for everyone. We all have an expiration date. We just don’t know when it is. As you watch this film, you also think about what you have done with your life. Have you accomplished enough? Have you loved enough? Is your impact great or small? Have I prepared enough for the inevitability of death?

I believe reflecting on life and death is one of the main points of the movie. It’s about treating life like a rarity not to squander or let pass. It’s about enjoying it in the best way that suits you, but also taking care of nature, those you love and those who love you. I think that’s what makes Train Dreams powerful: it makes you sad but also inspires a sense of action: live.

I Love How Simple The Train Dreams Ending Is Because It Highlights The Simplicity Of Life And Death For Most People

If we’re lucky, we die in an uneventful way. We grow old and naturally pass one night, surrounded by loved ones or alone, but with a sense of fulfillment. Robert dies at the end, and in the most common way: in his bed. I felt happy for Robert. He had escaped the tragic fate of so many others. He lost many that he loved, but it felt satisfying knowing he got to complete a full life.

It’s something that is robbed from so many, but those who get to have the simple death of just living to old age and dying naturally, those are the lucky ones — even if they don’t get to live the most thrilling life. It’s a blessing to grow old and die in a common way.

Train Dreams is one of the new Netflix movies that you should watch if you haven’t seen it yet. It’s an enlightening movie that makes you reflect on the delicate nature of life and the privilege of getting to live it.

Stream Train Dreams on Netflix.