‘Train Dreams’ & the Ordinary, Decent Life

Movies these days tend to overexplain themselves, telling viewers how to feel while flattening characters into lazy, uncomplicated archetypes. Train Dreams—directed by Clint Bentley and nominated for Best Picture—bucks the trend, refusing to domesticate the audience. Instead, its scenes and characters are saturated with mystery—not “whodunnit”-type suspense but deeper, quieter questions, like “Why am I here?” and “What does any of this mean?” The result dazzles.