The Mustang

The Mustang is a 2019 drama film written by Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, Mona Fastvold, and Brock Norman Brock, and directed by Clermont-Tonnerre in her feature directorial debut. It stars Matthias Schoenaerts as an incarcerated inmate who participates in a rehabilitation program centered around training of wild horses. Jason Mitchell, Gideon Adlon, Connie Britton, and Bruce Dern appear in supporting roles. The Mustang is based on an actual rehabilitation program in Carson City, Nevada.

The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 31, 2019, and was released in the United States on March 15, 2019, by Focus Features.

Plot
Rounded up by helicopter, thousands of wild mustangs are taken from the wild to help reduce overpopulation. Of these, a few hundred are sent to prisons to be broken and later sold to support the program.

A psychologist interviews Roman Coleman in a Nevada prison he's been transferred to before they reinsert him into the general population. As he isn't good with people, she assigns him to outdoor maintenance. Roman's pregnant, teenaged daughter Martha gives Roman a surprise visit, asking to sign some papers. After, he tells her not to return.

Roman has been incarcerated for 12 years after leaving his domestic partner permanently brain damaged in an attack. Aware of his short temper and violent tendencies, he has resisted efforts to be reintegrated back into society.

While working maintenance, Roman is seen interacting with a 'dangerous' horse and thereby placed in the rehabilitation program run by rancher Myles that assigns prisoners with training wild mustangs. Each prisoner in the program is given a specific horse to train and they have 12 weeks to complete the training course so they can be sold at an auction.

Roman initially struggles with the training of his mustang, but under the guidance of Henry, an inmate regarded as the top horse trainer, he begins to make progress. As the weeks pass, Roman becomes close with the horse, whom he names Marquis, and forms a friendship with Henry.

Martha returns to get Roman's initials on every page. Discovering she's seeking emancipation to sell the house his mother left them for money to move to the east, he refuses. The anger he feels in that situation carries over into his horse training. Frustration with Marquis causes him to lose his temper, he punches the animal repeatedly which causes Myles to kick him out of the horse training program and into solitary confinement.

Before a thunderstorm strikes, the horse-training inmates are woken to take the horses undercover for safety. Roman redeems himself, both getting him out of solitary and returning him to the training program.

Once Roman has returned to his cell, his addict cellmate Dan blackmails him into smuggling horse tranquilizer like Henry. The program suffers a blow, however, when Dan murders Henry over the ketamine. Roman retaliates by strangling him unconscious before he calls in the guards.

The day of the auction arrives, which Roman invites the pregnant Martha to attend with the hope of improving their relationship. While Roman showcases Marquis to the auctioneers, he becomes distracted after he notices Martha is not present. This distraction leads to disaster when Marquis is startled by an overhead helicopter, causing Roman to fall off his horse and nearly be trampled as the other trainers restrain Marquis.

Shortly afterwards, Roman learns from Myles that Marquis has been deemed untrainable and will be euthanized. Taking advantage of the prison gates being damaged by the thunderstorm, Roman is able to help Marquis escape.

Some time later, Roman receives a letter from Martha acknowledging her father's refusal to leave prison. The letter also includes a photo of Martha with Roman's newly-born grandson, who she intends to have Roman meet during her next visit. After Roman finishes reading the letter, he spots Marquis standing by the prison fence and smiles.

Cast

 * Matthias Schoenaerts as Roman Coleman
 * Jason Mitchell as Henry Cooper
 * Bruce Dern as Myles
 * Gideon Adlon as Martha Coleman
 * Connie Britton as Psychologist
 * Josh Stewart as Dan
 * Noel Gugliemi as Roberto
 * Thomas Smittle as Tom

Production
In May 2017, it was announced Matthias Schoenaerts and Jason Mitchell had joined the cast of the film, with Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre directing from a screenplay she wrote, alongside Mona Fastvold and Brock Norman Brock. Canal+, Cine+, will produce the film, alongside Alain Goldman and Molly Hallam serving as a producer and executive producer under their Legende banner. In October 2017, Susan Sarandon, Gideon Adlon, Bruce Dern, Josh Stewart joined the cast of the film. Sarandon later departed from the cast and was replaced by Connie Britton.

Filming took place at the Nevada State Prison in Carson City, Nevada.

Release
It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 31, 2019. It was released in a limited theatrical release on March 15, 2019, and on VOD by Universal Home Entertainment on June 4, 2019.

Box office
The Mustang grossed $5.3 million in the United States and Canada, and a worldwide total of $6.7 million.

Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on  reviews with an average rating of. The site's critical consensus reads "The Mustang finds fresh perspectives in a familiar redemption tale brought brilliantly to life by powerful performances from Bruce Dern and Matthias Schoenaerts." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 77 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".