Train Dreams (2025) on Netflix
Orphaned as a boy, Robert Grainier arrives in Bonners Ferry, Idaho, in 1893. He drifts until he meets Gladys Olding. They marry and build a log cabin on the Moyie River.
- Netflix4.3/5
- IMDb7.5/10115,783 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes95%
Trailer
Plot summary
Robert Grainier comes to Bonners Ferry, Idaho, on the Great Northern Railway as a seven-year-old orphan in 1893. He leaves school and drifts. He meets Gladys Olding, and the two marry and settle in a log cabin beside the Moyie River with their daughter, Kate. Robert goes to work on the Spokane International Railway, and there he watches white workers throw a Chinese laborer from a bridge. The man stays with him in dreams. In the camps, he comes to know men who leave a mark on him. Seasonal work takes him into the woods for months at a time, away from Gladys and Kate.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Train Dreams (2025)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Nick Cave recorded an original song titled "Train Dreams" for the film, but it was left out of the version that premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. It was added in later releases, where it plays over the end credits.
- Cinematographer Adolpho Veloso shot the film entirely in natural light using an Arri Alexa 35 camera, and built a customized candle rig to work around the set's no open flames rule.
- Only a limited number of real trees were felled during production. Scenes of characters cutting into a tree used an artificial prop built from wood and fiberglass, with visual effects extending the trunk and canopy into a full-sized tree.
- Director Clint Bentley and cinematographer Adolpho Veloso considered shooting on film, but the production's 29-day schedule made it impractical, so the film was shot digitally.
