Roman Coleman 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 outdoor maintenance, Roman is placed in a 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 Roman is required to complete the training within five weeks before his horse is 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. The program suffers a blow, however, when Henry is murdered by Dan, Roman's cellmate. Roman retaliates by strangling Dan into unconsciousness before they are broken up by guards. The day of the auction arrives, which Roman invites his pregnant daughter Martha to attend with the hope of improving his relationship with her. 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 a storm, Roman is able to help Marquis escape and return to the wild. 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 gates and smiles.
Thomas Smittle as Tom - Thomas participated in a similar program to that depicted in this film. The final picture of trainers and horses leading into the credits is Thomas with two horses.
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 release on March 15, 2019.
Reception
On review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 94% based on 96 reviews with an average rating of 7.55/10. 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 33 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
