Trains

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1:38

Trains

2025

1h 20m

Documentary

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7 Reviews

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Fewer than 50 Ratings

TRAINS is a found-footage documentary composed entirely of archive footage and sound design that creates a collective portrait of people in 20th century Europe, capturing their hopes, desires, dramas and tragedies. A train compartment is a place where people are taken out of their everyday context for a while. Sometimes the journey is accompanied by the hope that something will change in our lives upon reaching the destination, or conversely, by a stark absence of hope. And yet the history of the 20th century unfolds in railway carriages in a repetitive refrain. Every few years, hauntingly similar scenes play out in railway stations around the world: carriages full of men leaving for war, only to return wounded or as casualties. This cycle is followed by an exodus of civilians, evacuees mingling with prisoners of war returning from camps, and soldiers of victorious armies leading the defeated, until ordinary passengers reappear at stations.

Tim Cogshell

FilmWeek (LAist)

Nov 11

Extremely striking... I don't think we even have people who look like that anymore.

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William Repass

Slant Magazine

Sep 28

3/4

The film's chronological rigor imparts an "on-rails" historical linearity, a sensation of inexorable progress and doom.

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Nadine Whitney

The Curb

Dec 5

Trains is a haunting human experience in coal, steam, iron, and the man-made lay lines which connect and destroy.

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Beandrea July

FilmWeek (LAist)

Nov 11

A really refreshing palate cleanser where I'm left with my own emotions, internal experience, and to make up my own conclusions.

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Sankeerthna Vedamtam

MovieJawn

Oct 6

Trains invites the enterprising traveler to really, critically think about their circumstances and a recurring shot throughout the film keeps this thought in the viewer’s head far after the credits have rolled.

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Christopher Campbell

Nonfics (Substack)

Oct 3

I haven’t seen and probably won’t see a better-looking documentary than Trains this year, which is wild since it consists entirely of archival footage from the first half of the 20th century.

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Stephen C

@bob25009 Oct 4

Real footage in 1 1/3 hours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Maciej J. Drygas

Director

Maciej J. Drygas

Screenwriter

Vita Żelakeviciute

Producer

Andrzej Musiał

Cinematographer

Rafal Listopad

Film Editor

Pawel Szymanski

Original Music

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Marx Can Wait

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I Didn't See You There

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Trains: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

TRAINS is a found-footage documentary composed entirely of archive footage and sound design that creates a collective portrait of people in 20th century Europe, capturing their hopes, desires, dramas and tragedies. A train compartment is a place where people are taken out of their everyday context for a while. Sometimes the journey is accompanied by the hope that something will change in our lives upon reaching the destination, or conversely, by a stark absence of hope. And yet the history of the 20th century unfolds in railway carriages in a repetitive refrain. Every few years, hauntingly similar scenes play out in railway stations around the world: carriages full of men leaving for war, only to return wounded or as casualties. This cycle is followed by an exodus of civilians, evacuees mingling with prisoners of war returning from camps, and soldiers of victorious armies leading the defeated, until ordinary passengers reappear at stations.

Director: Maciej J. Drygas
Producer: Vita Żelakeviciute
Screenwriter: Maciej J. Drygas
Distributor: EPF Media
Production Co: Drygas Film Production
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: Polish
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 3, 2025, Limited
Runtime: 1h 20m