The Rider · reception & legacy
2018 · Chloé Zhao
How The Rider has been received, argued over, and remembered.
The arc
In 2018 it was the acclaimed little indie that critics adored and almost nobody saw — then Nomadland won Best Picture and everyone circled back, with 'The Rider is actually Zhao's best film' becoming one of Letterboxd's most reliable takes.
What's debated
The perennial debate: is this better than Nomadland — and did the Oscars completely blow it by giving it zero nominations?
Its footprint
It's the film that changed Chloé Zhao's career trajectory — Marvel came calling for Eternals off the back of it — and it's become the go-to modern reference point for docufiction, the non-actors-playing-themselves hybrid.
Where it stands
A canon climber and certified Letterboxd darling: the 'underseen gem you must watch' of late-2010s American indie cinema.