THE RIDER

Once a rising star of the rodeo circuit, and a gifted horse trainer, young cowboy Brady is warned that his riding days are over, after a horse crushed his skull at a rodeo. Back home on the Pine Ridge Reservation, with little desire or alternatives for a different way of life, Brady’s sense of inadequacy mounts as he is unable to ride or rodeo – the essentials of being a cowboy. In an attempt to regain control of his own fate, Brady undertakes a search for new identity and what it means to be a man in the heartland of America.

Chloé Zhao is a Chinese writer, director and producer. Her 2015 feature debut Songs My Brothers Taught Me premiered in US Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival and Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival. It was nominated three times at the 2016 Film Independent’s Spirit Awards. Chloé studied Political Science at Mount Holyoke College and Film Production at NYU. She was born in Beijing and currently resided in the United States.

 

The result is a beautiful, honest account of a tough way of life, one that produces and requires a strong sense of identity and values.

Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter