Writer and director Lauren Meyering swings for the fences with a difficult yet captivating story that is surely going to resonate with certain viewers, certain parents, and make for a compelling career moving forward in the feature industry with her first full-length feature, Horsegirls. While the story is one of difficulty, growing up, and ensuring success for one’s children, the film hits home hard for those who can relate with the powerful and touching story and the world we find our lead character in.
Horsegirls focuses on 22-year-old Margarita (Lillian Carrier) who gets enough grief over her name from peers and younger people, but also is autistic and has to grapple with the world in a different way. She does not let her autism define her, but other people are not as kind (specifically the children; the adults are generally fantastic human beings and more of this needs to be in the world than not). She lives with her mom, Sandy (Gretchen Mol), who’s trying to get her to stop breaking into her neighbor’s house (Jerod Haynes as Coach) and playing “horse.” While Sandy is diagnosed with cancer, but without a specific designation to the severity, she tries to get Margarita set up for a potential world on her own, insisting she finds work and becomes self-sufficient. Reluctant at first, Margarita finds work with Hank (Iqbal Theba) at the local Halloween store, and Sandy tries to ensure that Hank understands that Margarita is “different.” Hank is all but familiar and ensures Sandy that Margarita is in good hands. However, Margarita isn’t so enthused to be working and saving her money, so she joins Coach’s hobby horse dance team. Things start to spiral between the matter of Margarita’s happiness and Sandy’s need/want to ensure her daughter’s safety for a possible world without her involvement.
Lillian Carrier as Margarita in HORSEGIRLS. Photo courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival 2025.
On a personal note, I have a non-verbal younger brother who is autistic and there is no need to get into the details of his housing situation, but the choices and decisions that were written for Sandy resonate with me in ways that are often not seen on screen. It is a different level of understanding and personal connection one must have to understand fully the decisions, stress, and fear that Sandy has within her character which is brilliantly written by Meyering and even more wonderfully acted by Mol.
For a film like Horsegirls to work, the cast has to be top-of-their-game, firing on all cylinders and then some. Gretchen Mol (Millers in Marriage; Manchester by the Sea; Laggies; 3:10 to Yuma) has always been fantastic, and her performance as Sandy in Horsegirls is nothing shy of extraordinary and exceptional. She never lets her guard down when Margarita is present, consistently wearing her motherly hat with only brief moments of weakness are shown throughout her performance. There is a single line delivery in the third act of the film that is so emotionally raw and present that it excels her performance from something beautiful to devastatingly gorgeous — Gretchen Mol is truly one-of-a-kind in this role. However, it is Lillian Carrier who carries the entire film on her back figuratively and almost literally as she’s the heart, soul, and backbone of the film. Her performance is simply incredible and is thrown into a world that no one wants to be in, a world where they’re possibly growing up without their support system and on their own. She navigates this version of that world flawlessly and brings to life the brilliant world Meyering created, generating something so beautiful and upsetting that it will surely sit with audiences long after the film ends and will leave an everlasting impact on those with whom the film resonates.
Screening during Tribeca Film Festival 2025.
For more information, head to the official Tribeca Film Festival Horsegirls webpage.
Final Score: 4 out of 5.
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Categories: In Theaters, Reviews
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