Of Girls and Horses

Finally, a movie for lesbian Horse Girls. Wish a little more happened in Of Girls and Horses, though.

Of Girls and Horses is about the lives of three people at a horse ranch. The owner of the ranch is Nina, a lesbian in a long distance relationship with her city-based girlfriend. At the start of the film, Alex, a 16 year old delinquent begins an internship with Nina. Alex soon takes to the horses and to Nina. Last to arrive is Kathy, another teenager. Kathy is rich as indicated by the fact that she owns her own horse. Alex is initially cold to Kathy but they bond over being the same age, liking horses and being the only people they see on a daily basis. Over time, Alex and Kathy’s relationship develops. On a weekend when Nina is out of town, Alex and Kathy act like only semi-responsible teenagers which puts the horses at risk.

Not much happens in Of Girls and Horses. It’s a very calm, almost soothing movie. It’s like all the characters are too busy doing farm stuff and experiencing the majesty of horses to have any major conflict. The farm is very much a safe place for these characters but that means it’s also free from plot-driving events. The film wanders from one vague plot point to the next like a horse grazing in a meadow or some other topical metaphor. Even in the third act when Kathy and Alex act irresponsibly, there’s minimal conflict. They lose the horses but manage to find and retrieve the horses by just walking around the local countryside.

I can almost vibe with this very gentle atmosphere. It only needed 10% more plot and I would deem this a feel-good movie. Where the movie really could have used some more plot is in the characters. The film does feature a tentative romance between Alex and Kathy which isn’t quite developed enough. The problem is they’re all so damn interested in horses to think about lesbian stuff. Alex especially never fully warms up to Kathy but is remarkably warm, open and joyful to watch when she’s with horses.

The tentative romance is sweet in its own way. Lots of films with queer teens are overtly sexually charged. But Of Girls and Horses is the opposite of that. Alex and Kathy are largely childlike in their budding relationship. They frolic in the mud and draw words on each other’s arms to guess. Were it not for a lesbian sex scene between Nina and her partner, this film would have been a perfectly acceptable queer film to show preteens.

Of Girls and Horses is a very gentle movie which veers into boring.The last shot of the film is truly beautiful; Alex and Kathy riding the same horse down an empty beach discussing their solid plan for a future where Alex will work on a ranch near Kathy’s home.Still, Of Girls and Horses might have worked better as a short film. As a feature length film however, it’s a little thin on story. On the plus side, it is better looking than the last Monica Treut film I’ve seen, Ghosted. It also definitely has an audience for it in queer women who were or remain Horse Girls.

Overall rating: 5.3/10

Other WLW films in similar genres