The Mustang

An antisocial prisoner in a Nevada correctional facility finds his fortunes improving when he joins a programme to break-in wild mustangs for auction in this European production shot in the United States. Matthias Schoenaerts is on good form as the glowering convict learning how to address his anger-management issues while in equine company, and director Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre does a convincing job marshalling her untamed four-legged cast for dramatic purposes. There's a striking opening sequence as the mustangs are rounded up by helicopter out on the rolling plains, though the film's real trump card is octogenarian Bruce Dern as the marvellously ornery head of the institution's horse-wrangling project. Given there's a broken relationship between Schoenaerts and his pregnant daughter that's in need of repair, events go pretty much where you'd expect. But despite a slight lack of substance, The Mustang makes for absorbing viewing throughout - especially for those of a horsey bent.