Dream Horse is the latest horse racing sports film from director Euros Lyn, making his feature film directorial debut. That’s after working on various popular television shows.

The film tells the true story of Dream Alliance, an unlikely racehorse bred by small-town bartender Jan Vokes (Toni Collette). Having very little money and no experience, Jan convinces her neighbors to chip in their meager earnings to help raise Dream and compete in the sport of horse racing. Their investment eventually pays off as Dream rises through the ranks and becomes a beacon of hope for their small struggling community.

Director Euros Lyn does a really good job with the film, particularly during the horse race sequences. The horse has that energy and bursts of unpredictability like the sport itself. Lyn accompanies these scenes with good musical choices that make the horse races feel more lively. The film’s setting, a small town in Wales, also looks nice. Art decoration also stands out here, like tiny houses with old furniture and big green spaces where they keep the horses. Lyn also chooses sets near quaint trees and hills of old houses in the countryside.

The cast of the film shines and gives it all of its heart. Toni Collete in particular is excellent in the film, really evaluating the material and giving it an added emotional core. You start to feel for her towards the end, hoping the horse’s investment will pay off and save the community. Around Toni Collete is a great supporting cast like Owen Teale as her kind and very encouraging husband. Hre gives her extra enthusiastic support about the horse racing idea. Their relationship is very sweet and heartfelt, adding a feel-good element to the film.

Perhaps what pulls the film down is a very formulaic story and a script that doesn’t take enough chances. Besides the strong cast, it is your average horse race film. In that, it follows those other films nearly beat by beat. There is nothing here to elevate the story and truly differentiate it. The ending is very predictable and does not have any real unexpected surprises.

Well, the film is very predictable and doesn’t try to do anything new you haven’t already seen before in other horse race films of this type. The cast and crew bring the film up by making it much better by giving it some added emotion. This allows for some of its faults to be overlooked to a certain extent.