Lean on Pete (15)
45 Years director Andrew Haigh makes an auspicious American debut with this low-key drama about a troubled teen (played by Charlie Plummer) who bonds with a pastits-prime racehorse. More Kes than
Black Beauty, it’s a heartbreaking story of hardship and hope that sees 15-year-old Charley (Plummer) fall through the cracks as his transient life with his father comes to a violent end. He makes friends initially with abrasive but kind-hearted racetrack veteran Del, who hires him as a stable boy, which is where he befriends the eponymous steed. An empathetic teen, Charley is devoid of the guile kids in his situation really need to survive, but in the horse he finds an emotional crutch that gives him strength – even as events force him to escape with his equine friend and hit the road. Plummer is magnificent in the lead and Haigh demonstrates his continued mastery of his craft, following here in the grand tradition of Us-bound Euro auteurs like Wim Wenders by delivering an outsider’s portrait of America that’s fully attuned to both the mythic grandeur and the harsh realities of life in a country where the wide-open spaces belie the high cost of freedom.