Horse Girl Isn't Really About Horses

Last year Netflix unleashed a movie starring Brie Larson called Unicorn Store and it was a 90-minute mistake. When the streaming service announced it was showcasing its upcoming release Horse Girl starring the similarly-named-but-they-are-admittedly-nothing-alike Alison Brie at this year's Sundance Film Festival, it was at the bottom of my list of things I was excited to see.

Looking for something new to watch on Netflix? Here is a list of all the best new shows and movies released on Netflix the week of Feb. 7-13.

In his three previous trips to the fest as director, Jeff Baena has brought Sundancers offerings ranging from a heartfelt zombie love story (Life After Beth) to a winking take (The Little Hours) on bawdy 14th-century tales of nuns and priests. So it's little surprise that Horse Girl, starring and co-written by Alison Brie, is hard to categorize.

Last year Netflix released a film starring Brie Larson called Unicorn Store and it was a 90-minute full body cringe. When the streaming service brought a sneak peek of its upcoming release Horse Girl starring the similarly-named-but-they-are-admittedly-nothing-alike Alison Brie to Sundance, it was last on my list of things I wanted to see. I'm here to remind you to never judge a book or a streaming platform's next big title by its cover; Horse Girl is absolutely terrific.

Anyone who saw director Louise Osmond's 2015 documentary Dark Horse, winner of the audience award at Sundance that year, knew it was a racing certainty that this almost-too-good-to-be-true story would get made into a feature film someday.

A funny thing happens about a third of the way into “Horse Girl,” Jeff Baena’s fourth Sundance feature after “Life After Beth,” “Joshy” and “The Little Hours.” Or rather, a funny thing stops happening: the familiar, steady-heartbeat rhythms of the low-budget social awkwardness comedy become erratic, tachycardiac, as the initially endearing foibles of the film’s heroine, Sarah (a revelatory Alison Brie), are found to have deeper roots and more painful ramifications than feels right to laugh at.

Here’s an interesting trailer for a March-released film titled Calm With Horses. The film features one of our big up and coming actors in Cosmo Jarvis, who you may have seen in the likes of Lady Macbeth or the hit TV series Peaky Blinders. The movie is the feature film debut of director Nick Rowland and also features the acting talents of Barry Keoghan and Niamh Algar.

Louise Osmond’s 2015 Sundance audience winner “Dark Horse” was one of those documentaries that played like a crowdpleasing fiction, its real-life tale of underdog triumph had such a conventionally satisfying narrative arc. And indeed, the new “Dream Horse” proves that same material is indeed ready-made for dramatization.

Dave Grohl is thisclose to finishing a new Foo Fighters album. “It’s the record that we’ve threatened to make for a long time,” he says. “We’re finally doing something that’s surprising even us.” But on Thursday afternoon, Grohl is 100% focused on late Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell Abbott, who is being honored that night at the eleventh annual Dimebash at the Observatory in Anaheim, just down the road from NAMM. (Abbott was shot to death by a fan during a show in Cleveland in 2004.)

Unless you've been living under the rock, you would be aware that a Gossip Girl reboot is in the making. The makers announced that they are revisiting Upper East Side to unfold a few more scandalous stories through the voice of the Gossip Girl. A few months ago, Kristen Bell confirmed she was reprising her role as the voice of Gossip Girl. Now, the producers of the show have confirmed that the first draft of the Gossip Girl reboot script is ready.