Joel Edgerton shows a strong train of thought.

I’m told that “Train Dreams” has a certain Terrance Malick ambiance and it does. It shows us a man working and living in the woods as a hermit. And even as progress emerges, he still has his fire lamps lighting his manmade house. There’s a strong sense of beauty within the somber appearance, and Will Patton narrates the film like an old western giving some character development.

Based on Denis Johnson’s novella, “Train Dreams” was made by the same collaborators who gave us “Sing Sing.” They consist of Clint Bentley making his directorial debut and Greg Kwedar co-writing the adapted screenplay. Ergo, they both manage to enter Malick territory with the character study and direction, and what life in the Pacific Northwest represents in their vision during a time of progress.

The movie stars Joel Edgerton as Robert Grainer, an Idaho man who doesn’t find his purpose in life, until he meets and falls in love with Gladys (Felicity Jones). They marry, build a life by a lake, and raise a little girl. To provide for his family and build their own farm, he leaves home to help develop the railroad in turn of the century. Since his job regards cutting down trees, he leaves his family during logging season, although he does try to find work closer to home.

During the railroad building, he sees a Chinese man being thrown off a bridge to his death, and ever since, Robert has been seeing that very man. Ultimately, he wonders if death is after him, especially when an elderly demolitions expert named Arn Peebles (William H. Macy) gets killed on the job, and he suspects that death targeted the wrong man.

The emotional weight thickens as a forests fire takes away his home and possibly his wife and daughter. He searches for them and rebuilds their home, hoping that they will return to him, if they escaped the fire. Sometimes, there’s a beacon of hope, and other times, there’s a strong amount of despair.

Watching Robert deal with his pathos in the woods almost makes me imagine if Casey Affleck’s character in “Manchester by the Sea” decided to become a hermit after causing a fire that killed his character’s family. But that was a completely different movie, and so is “Train Dreams.” And Edgerton’s performance is emotionally complex as if in a way we, too, feel like death is coming for us and that we try to find our loved ones in life. Half the time, we’re lucky, and half the time, not so much. And it shows. And he delivers his monologues with such poetry and heart, it’s impossible to not feel his pain.

Sometimes the time changes can be a little confusing, especially when he ages, but we still know where he is while chainsaws, skyscrapers, and planes are developing. And we do see him riding on a rain with cars driving by. But we’re mostly interested in how he sees himself, how he sees life, and how he wonders about the purpose of it all. While industry is blooming, he’s glooming in the woods. And yet, he keeps moving forward. And the narrator tells all.

Bentley and Kwedar both make great collaborators, and they craft gorgeous looking film with the cinematography by Adolpho Veloso, the music by Bruce Dressner from The National, and the casting (also with Kerry Condon as a forestry service worker and Clifton Collins Jr. as a stranger, both of whom Robert crosses paths with). I can’t wait to see their next movie, but for now “Train Dreams” rides on a timely manner.

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