There are a few things Margarita (Lillian Carrier) knows for sure: she does not want to get a job, she definitely does not want to get a job which requires her to wear “hard pants,” she loves horses, she loves her mom, and she’s not eager to engage in much of anything that might open her up to ridicule. And yet, the young autistic woman — and Carrier herself is autistic — has already gone against some of those internal rules. She went to college and got a degree. She spends a lot of her time riding around on an adult-sized tricycle with a stuffed horse head attached to it (he’s known as “Cheeseburger”). She loves doing karaoke with her mom Sandy (a heartbreaking Gretchen Mol) at their favorite restaurant.
Like any person, the push-pull of Margarita’s wants and needs are constantly butting up against each other. Margarita’s disability may, of course, impact and affect those wants and needs in slightly different ways (versus those of a neurotypical person), but the core of her experience is common. It’s simply the human condition, but as the protagonist of Lauren Meyering’s creative and emotionally complex feature directorial debut, “Horsegirls,” Margarita’s life offers new ways of viewing seemingly old stories. Classic stories.
And while hobby horsing — the wholly unexpected sport at the center of Meyering’s film and Margarita’s great awakening — might itself not be old or classic, the film functions a bit like any other great sports film. And, just like its heroine, the seeming “difference” or “uniqueness” of the sport helps illuminate the common feelings at the center of “Horsegirls.”
Based loosely on co-writer and producer Mackenzie Breeden’s own experiences (the multi-hyphenate also appears in the film in a small supporting role), “Horsegirls” opens with Margarita’s life already at an extreme crossroads, even if she does not yet realize it. Her mother Sandy is her sole parent after her father passed away from some sort of nebulous accident, and Sandy has already been through it in the intervening years. The death of her husband — who she energetically recalls in funny stories, including Margarita’s favorite, about the genesis of her name — was hard enough, but going through three rounds of cancer since then has been particularly harder to swallow.
When we first meet Margarita, she’s dreaming her way through a ride on Cheeseburger — Meyering blends in fantastical moments alongside the film’s harder dramatic moments, a creative gamble that doesn’t always work, even as it impresses — on her way to visit her mother at her chemotherapy appointment. No one is more assured of Margarita’s capabilities than Sandy, but there’s something deeply touching about the ways in which the film allows us to experience Margarita’s revelations through her eyes (and Carrier’s wonderful performance). Yes, Margarita is old enough and mature enough to come to Sandy’s appointments, but it’s also up to her to synthesize their true meaning. Eventually, she will.
But while Sandy might believe in Margarita’s abilities, she’s also constantly worried how they might be exploited. It’s easy enough to agree that Margarita should get a job, but what happens if her boss doesn’t fully understand the way she works? She should have friends, but what if they are making fun of her behind her back? For every moment Sandy is trying to nudge Margarita into the real world, she’s also guilty of pulling her way back. And for Margarita, fierce and funny and possessed of a Jenny Slate-styled honk, none of this will do. She’d rather spend her time breaking into the local stables to hang out with the horses, who she adores and who her mother will no longer let her ride.
And then, one night, a discovery: hobby horsing. Inevitably, the moment that Margarita spies a hobby horsing class cavorting around a room in the local middle school will likely have a profound effect on the film’s audience. What is that? What are they doing? Are those girls running around on stick horses, pretending to really be riding them? Yes, indeed, and it’s not just a wacky little hobby, it’s a full-fledged competitive sport, and there are serious contenders who’d like it to be an Olympic sport.
But while others might see something to ridicule, Margarita sees something entirely different: a way to belong. It’s a clever way into the film and Margarita’s own evolutions, a nifty way to remind us all of the power of Margarita’s vision, a push toward keeping our own eyes open to things that might look, at first glance, a little silly.
Sandy, who has begun to slowly orient herself toward teaching Margarita all the ways to be an adult, doesn’t see it that way. Enter: a major schism in the relationship, just at the moment that both mother and daughter should be cherishing every moment together. But while Meyering and Breeden’s script builds around familiar moments and worries (the film is a coming-of-age tale, tinged with sports drama, whimsical comedy, and a strong interest in showing “disability” in a new light), Margarita’s approach to everything tilts things into fresher spaces.
Carrier herself helped shape Margarita and her journey, and her perspective on the film’s events adds an authenticity that feels new. It it, much like hobby horsing itself, one that also feels unexpected, occasionally misunderstood, and deserving of a closer look.
Grade: B
“Horsegirls” premiered at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival. It is currently seeking U.S. distribution.
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