''Dream Horse'' is a 2020 sports

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film directed by

Euros Lyn Euros Lyn (; born 1971) is a Welsh film and television director, best known for his work in ''Doctor Who'', '' Sherlock'', ''Black Mirror'', '' Daredevil'', ''His Dark Materials'' and '' Heartstopper''. Early life Lyn was born in Cardiff. His ...

from a screenplay by Neil McKay. The film stars Toni Collette, Damian Lewis, Owen Teale, Joanna Page, Karl Johnson,

Steffan Rhodri Steffan Rhodri (born 1 March 1967) is a Welsh film actor, best known for portraying Dave Coaches on ''Gavin & Stacey'', Reg Cattermole in ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1'' and as the voice of Drippy in '' Ni no Kuni: Wrath of ...

, Anthony O'Donnell, Nicholas Farrell, and Siân Phillips, and follows the true story of

Dream Alliance Dream Alliance (foaled 23 March 2001) is a thoroughbred racehorse, owned by the Alliance Partnership and trained by Philip Hobbs. Background Dream Alliance was bred by Janet Vokes, whose main experience until then had been with breeding whippets ...

, a horse that raced in the

Welsh Grand National The Coral Welsh Grand National is a Premier Handicap National Hunt racing, National Hunt Steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to Horse racing, horses aged four years ...

. It had previously been the subject of the documentary, '' Dark Horse: The Incredible True Story of Dream Alliance''. ''Dream Horse'' had its world premiere at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

on 24 January 2020 and was released in the United States on 21 May 2021, by

Bleecker Street Bleecker Street is an east–west street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is most famous today as a Greenwich Village nightclub district. The street connects a neighborhood today popular for music venues and comedy, but which was ...

and in the United Kingdom on 4 June 2021, by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Synopsis

The film tells the true story of

, an unlikely race horse bred by Welsh bartender Jan Vokes. With very little money and no experience, Jan convinces her neighbours to chip in their earnings to help raise Dream in the hopes he can compete with the racing elites. The group's investment pays off as Dream rises through the ranks with grit and determination and goes on to race in the

Cast

* Toni Collette as Jan Vokes * Damian Lewis as Howard Davies * Owen Teale as Brian Vokes * Joanna Page as Angela Davies * Nicholas Farrell as

Philip Hobbs Philip Hobbs (born 26 July 1955) is a British racehorse trainer specializing mainly in National Hunt racing. He is based at stables near Minehead, Somerset. His biggest wins have come with Flagship Uberalles in the 2002 Queen Mother Champion Cha ...

* Siân Phillips as Maureen * Karl Johnson as Kerby *

Peter Davison Peter Malcolm Gordon Moffett (born 13 April 1951), known professionally as Peter Davison, is an English actor with many credits in television dramas and sitcoms. He made his television acting debut in 1975 and became famous in 1978 as Tristan ...

as Lord Avery *

as Gerwyn * Anthony O'Donnell as Maldwyn *

Di Botcher Diane Botcher (born 2 June 1959) is a Welsh actress. She has starred in several British television sitcoms and dramas, including the Sky comedy drama '' Stella'', BBC comedies '' Little Britain'' and ''Tittybangbang'' and the ITV period drama '' ...

as Nerys * Alex Jordan as Johnson White * Max Hutchinson as James Lingsford * Lynda Baron as Elsie * Asheq Akhtar as Peter * Darren Evans as Goose *

Katherine Jenkins Katherine Maria Jenkins (born 29 June 1980) is a Welsh singer. She is a mezzo-soprano and performs operatic arias, popular songs, musical theatre, and hymns.Clare Balding Clare Victoria Balding (born 29 January 1971) is an English broadcaster, journalist, and author. She currently presents for BBC Sport, Channel 4, BT Sport, is the current president of the Rugby Football League (RFL) and formerly presented the ...

as herself

Production

It was announced in March 2019 that

was directing the film, with Toni Collette and Damian Lewis cast in the lead roles. Owen Teale, Joanna Page, Nicholas Farrell, Siân Phillips and Karl Johnson were added in May. Filming began by May 2019 in Wales.

Release

''Dream Horse'' had its world premiere at the

on 24 January 2020. The film was originally scheduled to be released in the United Kingdom on 17 April 2020, and in the United States on 1 May 2020, but these were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was eventually released to theaters on May 21, 2021 and was released on DVD, July 20, 2021.

Reception

Box office

''Dream Horse'' grossed $796,000 from 1,254 theaters in its opening weekend. Females made up 62% of the audience, with 85% being over the age of 25.

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 88% of 132 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.7/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "Spurred on by an excellent Toni Collette, ''Dream Horse'' has a comfortably crowd-pleasing gait that makes the most of the story's familiar formula." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 68 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". According to PostTrak, 81% of audience members gave the film a positive score, with 57% saying they would definitely recommend it.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 9883996 2020 films 2020s sports comedy-drama films American horse racing films American sports comedy-drama films Bleecker Street films British films based on actual events British horse racing films British sports comedy-drama films Film4 Productions films Films postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic Films shot in Wales Warner Bros. films Stage 6 Films films Topic Studios films 2020 independent films 2020 comedy-drama films 2020s English-language films Films directed by Euros Lyn 2020s American films 2020s British films