Writer and director Todd Solondz (Welcome to the Dollhouse, Happiness, Life During Wartime) examines the irretrievability of youth and the mercilessness of time passing in DARK HORSE, a melancholy and idiosyncratic comedy.

In his mid-30s, Abe clings to the trappings of his adolescence, including the extensive collection of toys and action figures adorning his boyhood
bedroom. Still living with his parents, Abe works for his increasingly disappointed Dad and spends evenings ruthlessly trouncing his Mom at backgammon. His older brother Richard’s success as a California doctor only feeds Abe’s resentment and rage at his family over his failures. When Abe meets Miranda. whose personal and professional disasters have sent her scrambling back to the safety of her parents’ suburban home, he
sees what he thinks is a chance at true love. Abe throws himself into pursuing the overmedicated Miranda, convincing her to marry him after a whirlwind courtship. But, as the couple haltingly prepares to start a new life together, the film swerves into Abe’s subconscious, where his crippling self-doubt and dark fears begin to undermine his nearly realized dream of a fuller life.

Tempering his trademark lacerating humor with unexpected tenderness, Solondz creates a poignant and provocative portrait of a besieged man-child and his fractured family—the story of a longtime dark horse struggling to come from behind.

Directed by Todd Solondz
Starring Justin Bartha, Selma Blair, Mia Farrow, Jordan Gelber, Donna Murphy, Christopher Walken, Zachary Booth, Aasif Mandvi
English
1 hr 24 mins, rated NR