Is this Netflix movie going to storm the Oscars? Don’t bet against it

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Credit: Netflix

There really isn’t much continuity between the two, so I realise that it’s a bit of a stretch, but I can’t help but see some of The Brutalist in Train Dreams, a new Netflix movie that just got its full trailer after a couple of months building up the hype over time. It looks like a staggeringly pretty, intense movie about the experience of life on the American frontier in days gone by.

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Joel Edgerton stars as Robert Grainier, a fictional worker on the American railroad who experiences long periods away from his wife (Felicity Jones) and child – and sees in real-time as the true wilds of the continent are tamed and felled, sweeping away some of the mystery and majesty of what was there before.

Along the way, it seems like he’ll make long-awaited stop-offs back home to rekindle his family life, but also meet plenty of other interesting workers, including one played by the iconic William H. Macy in melancholy, reflective form. The movie seems to be both a portrait of the complexities of a life fully lived, but also a snapshot of a vividly interesting time in US history.

It all honestly couldn’t be further up my street if it tried – right down to the fact that, like The Brutalist, it’s shot in square format for a really interesting look and feel. The tallness of that framing seems a perfect match for the focus on forests and trees in Train Dreams, too, and could end up being pretty special.

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Train Dreams on Netflix

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Train Dreams on Netflix

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Train Dreams on Netflix

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Train Dreams on Netflix

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Train Dreams on Netflix

All that brings me to the question of awards, after a storming season for The Brutalist last year, and I have to say that the early buzz from film festivals seems to indicate that Train Dreams could have something to say for itself this year. Edgerton’s performance has been heavily praised so far, while the gorgeous visuals of the movie could also be persuasive for academy voters.

All that will become clear in time, but for now we just have to wait until 7 November, when it hits cinemas, or 21 November when it hits Netflix itself. I’ll be queuing up, I think.