“We certainly have a theory about what we think is going on, but I’d venture to say that even Baena and I have slightly different takes about what the truth is.”, The 2020 Movies That Are Streaming Online Early, What Happens If Trump Can't Fulfill His Duties, Dickies Work Pants Are the Brand at Its Best, The Turntable to Buy for Killer Sound and Style. PARK CITY, UTAH - JANUARY 26: Alison Brie of 'Horse Girl' attends the IMDb Studio at Acura Festival ... [+] Village on location at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival – Day 3 on January 26, 2020 in Park City, Utah. The revealing part there, of course, is the “something real” bit, which suggests that some of the wild stuff that goes down in Horse Girl isn’t a product of Sarah’s mind. But Sarah has no one, and thus has doubled down on her false perception of reality, to the point where she’s literally transported herself to another point in time to push herself further away. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. And some of what we see happening after Sarah makes her escape from the facility seems unlikely to be the work of aliens, like the matching suits she crafts for herself and her horse from an improbably long bolt of fabric, and the scene in which she has sex with her one-time date, Darren, only for him to transform into the lead actor from her favorite TV show. When doing a Q&A about the movie for Netflix, she said one of the reasons why there are multiple scenarios for the conclusion is because it's unclear whether viewers can trust Sarah or not. It’s also the kind of movie that prompts “Horse Girl ending explained” articles, but Decider did you one better: We asked writer/director Jeff Baena himself about the ending. Our hope is that people have myriad interpretations of the movie,” Brie told Vulture. Gabrielle Bruney is a writer and editor for Esquire, where she focuses on politics and culture. It can often be difficult to spot signs of depression in somebody, so it can feel like a giant, unsustainable burden upon the victim when they’re afflicted. Because Sarah has nobody in her life to properly care for her, she manufactures a false connection with her grandmother. Upon talking to her, Sarah discovers that the woman wound up in the facility after experiencing major time gaps. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io, The 20 Spookiest Movies About Ghosts Ever Made, The 'Hillbilly Elegy' Trailer is Not My Appalachia. Obviously this recalls Sarah’s story in Horse Girl, as she begins to believe that she’s a clone, that she’s being abducted by aliens, that she’s actually her grandmother transported through time. You can quickly get lost as you try to explain away all of Horse Girl’s disparate elements. It’s much easier to live in a world full of different rules that can only be understood by herself. This content is imported from YouTube. In this new reality, she doesn’t have to deal with depression—she can simply be one with a woman who will be able to care for her. Treating psychotic depression requires an intense combination of antidepressants and antipsychotic drugs. Here’s how it all goes down. The new Netflix film's intentionally leaves the audience disoriented. But Brie also backed up the alien abduction stuff, too. That’s why she pushes back against Darren and begins to further lose touch with reality. Or maybe both? “I definitely believe in aliens,” she said. “In my own personal struggles with depression, I know the feeling of being helpless, feeling powerless, feeling alone. Essentially, psychotic depression is a troubling, but rare condition that affects someone who has experienced both severe depression and a break with reality. Is Sarah, as she believes, actually her grandmother whose been transported to the wrong space in time? We may earn a commission from these links. Overcoming a psychotic break requires help from those around you. On a scale from 1 to 10, she says she’s a 1. The only difference between Alison Brie’s character and many other people is that she has nobody to help her. At the end of the film, Sarah believes that she’s part of a time loop, and is in fact her own grandmother. The film she wanted to make, she told Vulture, “ is about this woman who has this history of mental illness, and what if something real started happening to her? Spotting Signs of Depression. While we can try our best to explain away the time traveling elements of the film by fitting them into some alternate sci-fi reality...Horse Girl is, at its core, a very realistic movie. (Photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images for IMDb), EY & Citi On The Importance Of Resilience And Innovation, Impact 50: Investors Seeking Profit — And Pushing For Change. “If there’s not a Reddit message board about this movie, I would be shocked and frankly appalled,” she said. She wakes up in the middle of the night in random places; she has prescient dreams where she sees people she’ll soon meet; she begins to believe that she’s regularly abducted by aliens. “I want the Reddit fans to know that we did a lot of Reddit-based research for this movie. The movie, starring Alison Brie, who also co-wrote it with filmmaker Jeff Baena, tells the story of craft store salesperson Sarah, who loves making lanyards, watching her favorite supernatural detective show, and visiting her old horse, Willow. And it can push people to scary levels when it isn’t treated properly. We soon begin to realize that Sarah may have some serious mental issues. I’m a low-key conspiracy theorist, on the DL.”, “Definitely. It should come as no surprise that it’s difficult to admit when you’re depressed. We’re all about it.”, Her Vulture interview lends credence to both the mental health and alien abduction readings of the movie.