Dark Horse is the documentary version of Seabiscuit. If you are in need of a rousing, lovely bucking of establishment trends and underdog stories, Dark Horse will lift you out of your seat in applause. Turns out Welsh accents and horse racing are a great recipe for likability.
Dark Horse is about Dream Alliance, a professional racehorse in the UK. The horse is owned by a club in a dead mining town in Wales. These people figure out how to breed, train, and pay for a racehorse while dealing with the contempt and indifference of the upper class that runs the sport. What would start as a drinking fantasy turned into a rousing story of the triumph of human and horse spirit.
The doc is a sports movie comedy. The comedic parts are the larger than life group that owns the racehorse. For the majority of people, many of these owners could be your grandfather, grandmother, uncle, aunt, etc. These people are joyfully simple, just wanting something to spice up the dead end that the world has beholden to their hometown. I know for a fact my grandfather would bring his own meal to a race, refusing to pay for the uppity burgers. Every talking head makes you like these people more and more, and makes you realize what this horse means to these people. The sports movie is Dream Alliance’s arc. The horse’s creation, rise, fall, and rise again is like something out of Shakespeare, or any crowd-pleasing big game winning story. The merging of the horse to the town makes Dream’s success that much more poignant and happy for the audience.
There’s not any subtext here. Dark Horse is great for those craving a win for the little guy. I was near tears a few times, and just smiling watching this story of punching up. Anytime a grocery store cashier can rise to greatness through hard work and dedication, its impossible not to be happy for them, and just be happy with what you’re watching.