Marketic It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Lucia Ayala It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Kirpianuscus it must see it. for the themes. for the acting. for the messages. a film about fragility of an age. about a struggle. about refuges. about beauty and the need to have it. about solitude, anger, hate, need to escape from yourself. about family. and, sure, about the love. a profound disturbing film who reminds old fears, taboos and vulnerabilities. in fact, a film about the importance of the truth. who could be real useful for understand the life and history from another perspective. in strange manner, a film about happiness. it is the Saint Graal of the lead characters. it is the basic piece for normality. and, in each scene, it is lost. one of films who are more experience than a show. because it represents, after decades, the same challenge.

Larissa Pierry (tangietangerine) Watching this film was truly like seeing one of Freud's cases brought to life, as I'm sure they wouldn't deny the inspiration. It also succeeds in giving us a sense of reality, it feels like real pain, real angst...especially if we take a look at Richard Burton's initial monologue, lines delivered so intensely. The sorrow in his eyes repeating his tormenting questions to us, which will never be answered. Even though patients may be "cured" and go on with their lives, that element of mystery will always remain...but why did it happen like this? what are the odds that something like this ever afflict a boy in such a wild manner? Peter Firth is great as well, at times his acting (and his physical traits) reminded me of Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange. I would say playing Alan Strang's part was as bold as playing Alex DeLarge, given its exposition and demanding surrender to the part. The movie gives us a detective task, which is to take all of those fragments of Alan's life and dare to put it together, to make some sense. Lots of speculations cross our minds, is his obsession with horses the product of sexual repression? of the ultra-religious aspects of his primary relations? both? we are left unanswered, as we watch Dr. Dysart be put to test against Alan's provocations. That is also an interesting example of how a doctor-patient relationship can develop. It was a challenge the doctor wasn't expecting to face, after so many years of easy practice...he found out that a real relationship with a patient is made of two ways.

themagicflyingpandabear ... What more is there to know? If I could explain this movie to someone, I would say "A mentally ill boy does things with a horse that are sick and inappropriate." I didn't watch the play, but it looks more intriguing than the movie. Seemed like the movie lost the magic of the play.The main character was the biggest problem. He is not a smart, philosophical person. He barely explains his behaviors and always snaps at his counselor and parents in anger. He just does whatever he wants. He has orgasms on the horse and touches its private parts for his own selfish pleasures (without the horse's consent). Even when the horseman approached him on the beach, he did not say a single word to him and stared at the horse. The boy is mentally ill, but there's no excuse for being that silly.It's a film for someone who likes "straightjacket entertainment." It worked as a tragedy, too. He loved a horse but could not love a real human being. Mostly because he was self-centered. Did not enjoy watching him drive everyone away. However, I did enjoy the scene where he rode the horse on the beach. But it seems like the movie was not in the same league with the play.

TheLittleSongbird I love the movies of Sidney Lumet, well most anyway, and I feel Equus while not his best film is one of his better ones. Of his movies I think Equus is his most haunting film and also one of his most bold in the subject matter and what it tries to convey. The film is beautifully and atmospherically filmed and Lumet does a superb job directing. The dialogue is intense, deep and thoughtful and the story is compelling and really quite moving too. The acting is excellent, with Richard Burton really engrossing himself into the role and Peter Firth's haunting style of acting riveting. Joan Plowright and Jenny Agutter also give fine accounts of themselves. All in all, a bold and haunting film. 10/10 Bethany Cox