‘The Rider’: A Young Man Learns to Prioritize Duty Over Desire

Brady (Brady Jandreau) learns how to be a resilient and responsible man, in "The Rider." Sony Classics

Writer-director-producer Chloe Zhao’s drama, “The Rider” (2018), isn’t typical Hollywood entertainment fare. Instead, it’s about a conscientious young man, Brady (Brady Jandreau), learning to weigh what he likes to do against what he must.

Brady has spent a lifetime with horses, breaking them in and riding rodeo, while his widower father Tim (Tim Jandreau) has frittered his life away gambling. When a riding injury threatens the fame and money that the rodeo life promises, Brady itches to leap back in the saddle. But he’s reined in by his recurring seizures and reminders that his autistic sister Lilly (Lilly Jandreau) needs special care.

Now, he must choose between caring for Lilly and himself and risking a livelihood that’s too dangerous for them. The Jandreaus are a family, even off screen. Brady’s onscreen struggle with healing, mirrors his struggle as a real-life bronc-rider. His real-life disabled riding buddy, Lane, plays his on-screen buddy. Click here for plot summary, cast, reviews, and ratings.

Tim (Tim Jandreau) and his daughter Lilly (Lilly Jandreau), in "The Rider." Sony Classics

Horses and Socializing

Brady’s compassionate breaking in of horses represents the thoughtful socializing of teenage boys by parents, siblings, friends, and neighborhoods that enables them to fulfill their nobler purpose as men. The rodeo yard is more like a state of being than a place, where men risk their lives to earn and retain admiration and respect. If what Brady showers on his horses is any clue, it’s that men need love just as much as boys. Lots of it.

Brady expresses his love for horses visibly, tenderly, and consistently: hugging, caressing, reassuring and encouraging them, ruffling their manes, building trust through incremental steps. That calms their fears of being cruelly hurt or harrassed. Looking them in the eye, he whispers to them. Only then can he understand their fears better and make his kindness understood:  “How you doing, partner? It’s good to see you.” Tim isn’t as adept at displaying love for his son; his sarcasm or sniping often gets in the way. Still, he tries: “Just give me a hug. Love you.” For Brady’s sake, he does buy back a horse that he sold.

Brady (Brady Jandreau) works with horses by talking with them gently, in "The Rider." Sony Classics

The onset of manhood offers boys physical courage and strength, but it’s what they do with both that defines whether they stay adolescent or progress into manhood. Brady wields his manly strength to stand up for his sister; he won’t tolerate anyone, even a buddy, exploiting her vulnerability. Rodeo stardom was such a big part of his identity that he must summon a new kind of courage when he can no longer compete. He must find dignity in another livelihood.

Zhao’s saying that young boys needn’t be shy of showing vulnerability; it opens them up to receiving the kindness that fuels the resilience needed to fulfill their responsibilities as men. While he heals from surgery, Brady at one point asks his sister to sing him back to sleep. Brady and his buddies aren’t embarrassed about praying. They pray for themselves, each other, and their horses. They pray for Lane’s recovery. Brady prays at his mom’s grave.

Here, young men playfully gravitate toward risky behavior (wrestling, galloping over a campfire, riding horses bareback, riding bulls, playacting with revolvers). They wear their physical and emotional scars proudly, to prove to themselves and others that they’re gutsy, and no longer mere boys. Willing himself to fearlessness, rather than feeling it, Brady’s buddy says, “You don’t let no pain put you down … ride through the pain.”

Managing Risks

More introspective than his buddies, Brady discovers that real men don’t take on risks regardless of consequences. They manage risks in ways that don’t harm themselves or their families. They shed wanton gambles they may have indulged in when they were younger. Here, horses that are injured beyond recovery and must be put down serve as metaphors for men who don’t make that transition soon enough. They lose their capacity to enjoy life and to fulfill their responsibilities; they become the problem rather than the solution.

Lane (Lane Scott, L) and Brady (Brady Jandreau) work toward recovery, in "The Rider." Sony Classics

To Brady, wheelchair-bound Lane embodies that despair; when he was younger, he’d been “real wild.” Brady cares for Lane, but is wary of ending up like him. He suspects that it isn’t just about adolescent choices he or Lane made.

Every adolescent must tame his impetuous inner “horse” before it hurts him, others, or has to be “put down.” That demands practicing and ideally perfecting a vital skill as he approaches manhood: placing duties above desires.

These reflective articles may interest parents, caretakers, or educators of teenagers and young adults, seeking great movies to watch together or recommend. They’re about films that, when viewed thoughtfully, nudge young people to be better versions of themselves.

You can watch “The Rider” on Max, Hulu, Disney+, Apple TV and Amazon.