The Rider

The Rider is a fictional film about a rodeo rider who is recovering from a brain injury sustained during a rodeo. It stars Brady Jandreau, who is himself a rodeo rider with a similar injury. The film, written and directed by Chloe Zhao, is based a good deal on true events, as Brady's father and sister play themselves.

This film won a lot of accolades for its look. It was shot in the badlands of South Dakota, and the photography by Joshua James Richards captures the beauty of the light. The Rider also takes us into a world where most of us are alien--not only the world of rodeo, but of the Pine Ridge reservation.

Jandreau, a non-actor, is captivating. He is in every scene, and struggles with the reality of his situation, as he is warned that he should never ride again. He is stubborn, though, and continues to train horses, but also takes a job at a supermarket. When he is recognized by fans you can feel his embarrassment, but also his pride, simultaneously.

Rodeo is extremely dangerous, and in doing some reading I see that it is opposed by many animal welfare organizations because it can be cruel to animals. It is so ingrained in the culture of the American West though that it would ever be banned, but I think any activity that exploits animals for the entertainment of people should be stopped, as almost all circuses have stopped using animals and there's been a turn against parks like Sea World using trained dolphins and killer whales. But The Rider does go beyond the spectacle of rodeo, depicting the connection between human and animal, and how important that can be for both species.

The Rider is slow-going, but after watching a Q&A with the filmmakers I gained a bit of appreciation for it, as that's when I learned that most of the cast were non-actors playing essentially themselves (Lilly Jandreau, Brady's sister, has autism). Lane Scott, a former bullrider, plays himself, and he is a paraplegic with a severe brain injury. It is left for us to assume he has been injured riding in a rodeo, but he was actually injured in a car accident. Poetic license, I guess.