Horse Girl

Horse Girl

Year: 2020

Runtime: 104 min

Language: English

Director: Jeff Baena

Drama

Sarah is a socially awkward young woman who feels like an outsider, with passions for crafting, horses, and supernatural crime shows. Her social life mainly revolves around conversations with a colleague at the hobby shop where she works. Her life takes a strange turn when she begins to suspect that her vivid, lucid dreams are blurring the lines with reality. She finds herself questioning what is real and struggling to navigate her increasingly bizarre experiences.

Warning: spoilers below!

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Horse Girl (2020) – Full Plot Summary & Ending Explained

Read the complete plot breakdown of Horse Girl (2020), including all key story events, major twists, and the ending explained in detail. Discover what really happened—and what it all means.

Sarah is a shy and introverted young woman whose life is marked by a profound sense of solitude. She leads a quiet existence, earning a living at a local crafts store while spending her free time visiting her mother’s grave—a poignant reminder of her mother’s tragic suicide just a year prior. In addition to her somber visits, she finds solace at the horse stable, where her beloved childhood horse, Willow, is boarded. However, her frequent visits become a source of annoyance for the stable owners, who struggle to understand her deep attachment.

On the day of her birthday, Sarah’s roommate Nikki discovers her alone and decides to inject some life into the occasion by inviting Darren, the roommate of her boyfriend Brian, over for what was intended to be a double date. The evening takes an unexpected turn as the four indulge in marijuana and drinks. As they converse, Sarah becomes increasingly fascinated by Darren’s revelations about his life and past relationship. Unfortunately, the gathering is abruptly disrupted when Sarah suffers from a nosebleed. After the date, she experiences a peculiar dream where she finds herself lying on a stark white canvas, surrounded by a man and woman, both oblivious to the unsettling environment.

The next morning, Nikki awakens to find Sarah curled up on the living room floor, and eerie scratch marks mar the wall nearby. When Darren returns to collect his car, he musters the courage to ask Sarah out on a date—a moment that sends her heart racing. However, while at work, Sarah suffers another nosebleed, and as she recovers, she spots a man outside who bears an uncanny resemblance to the figure from her haunting dream. Adding to her rollercoaster of emotions, Sarah spends time with her childhood friend Heather, who has been grappling with the aftereffects of a traumatic brain injury sustained in a riding accident, leading to her persistent seizures and memory lapses.

As Sarah’s life unfolds, she is soon beset by a series of bizarre occurrences that blur the lines between reality and something far more sinister. While driving home one evening, she finds herself inexplicably transported from a red light near a water facility to her kitchen, the tap running as if time itself had slipped away. Alone in her apartment, she begins to hear indistinct voices echoing through empty rooms, and in a shocking turn, her car mysteriously vanishes from the garage.

In a surprising twist, her wealthy stepfather Gary informs Sarah that her car has turned up at a tow yard due to the registration still being under his name. They visit the yard together, and the tow driver reveals that the car was found abandoned near the very water facility where Sarah experienced her disorientation. Later that night, Sarah sleepwalks outside, waking up by a telephone booth, seemingly lost yet again. After her return, she notes that only minutes have elapsed, raising her suspicions further.

At work, her boss, Joan, concerned about Sarah’s family history of mental health issues, suggests she seek professional help. This fuels Sarah’s paranoia, leading her to believe that she is caught in a cycle of alien abductions. The resemblance she bears to her deceased grandmother terrifies her, as she begins to suspect she could be a clone. As days pass, she starts tracking down the man from her dream, Ron, discovering he runs a plumbing store. In a fit of desperation during a date with Darren, she confesses her fears about being a clone and demands he drive her to her mother’s grave to dig up DNA. Disturbed by her erratic behavior, Darren leaves, fearing for his safety.

After a surreal shower experience that sees her transported back to work, Joan grows increasingly worried and contacts the police. Subsequently, Sarah is committed to a psychiatric hospital, where she awakens to find her room’s door left ajar. She seizes the opportunity to escape, venturing out to various locations, including the crafts store—where she steals fabric to create protective suits for herself and Willow. However, her confrontation with the stable owner sends her fleeing once more. Seeking solace, she visits Darren, and in a moment of intimacy, they share a passionate encounter, only for him to mysteriously vanish afterwards.

In a deep dive into her subconscious, Sarah constructs a fabric doorway and steps into a white room reminiscent of her previously unsettling dreams. Within this eerie environment, she witnesses shadowy figures tending to unconscious individuals, including herself and the other figures she had seen in her dreams. A sudden leap through a window transports her into Heather’s bedroom, reuniting them in slumber. Yet, upon waking, Sarah discovers herself back in the hospital, leading to the grim realization that her recent experiences were merely figments of her imagination. Recognizing another patient as the woman from her dream, Sarah engages her in conversation, learning that they share dream elements that hint at their potential alien encounters. This revelation exhilarates Sarah and convinces her that she is not mentally ill, prompting an approving discharge after 72 hours.

Upon returning home, Sarah chooses to wear her grandmother’s dress, then cunningly abducts Willow from the stable. Together, they journey into the woods where, standing in a serene clearing, Sarah lies on the ground and awaits the inevitable moment. Moments later, a spaceship appears before her; she is levitated into the sky, marking her ultimate disappearance into the unknown.

Last Updated: December 13, 2024 at 06:47

Ending Explained – What Happens at the End of Horse Girl?

Still wondering what the ending of Horse Girl (2020) really means? Here’s a spoiler-heavy breakdown of the final scene, major twists, and the deeper themes that shape the film’s conclusion.

The ending of Horse Girl is highly ambiguous and thought-provoking, blurring the lines between reality, memory, and sci-fi elements like time travel and alien abduction. Throughout the film, Sarah’s experiences suggest she might be caught in a looping cycle caused by alien abductions that also involve confusing her sense of time and identity. In her final scenes, she appears to have traveled back in time, or perhaps been placed in a different point in her life by the aliens. This is evidenced when she returns to her childhood home and transforms herself to resemble her grandmother, Helen, implying that she might actually be her grandmother reincarnated or trapped in a time loop.

After making herself look like Helen, Sarah takes Willow the horse into the woods and lies down as lights from the sky illuminate the scene. In the final moments, she’s lifted into the sky, suggesting she’s being abducted again by the aliens, possibly to continue her journey in another dimension or time. The film hints that these abductions aren’t always happening at the same time in Sarah’s life—they seem to send her back to earlier points, creating a loop where she keeps reliving and rewinding her experiences. This is supported by the fact that Sarah emerges days earlier than expected during her mental hospital stay, indicating she’s been looped through time by the aliens.

The nature of Sarah’s reality remains uncertain, partly due to her unreliable perspective—she often confuses her hallucinations with real events. While some parts of her story could be imagined or her mind’s distortion, others suggest her experiences were real encounters with extraterrestrial beings. The recurring motif of her looking identical to her grandmother, combined with her belief that she’s her grandma and her final act of returning to her childhood home, strengthens the idea that she is caught in a bizarre time loop. Ultimately, the ending leaves us questioning whether Sarah has been living a series of delusions, or if she has truly been cycling through different points in her memory and history, manipulated by alien forces. It’s a haunting finale that invites viewers to ponder the mysterious nature of perception, identity, and the possibility of otherworldly influence on her consciousness.

Last Updated: June 25, 2025 at 08:58

Unlock the Full Story of Horse Girl

Don't stop at just watching — explore Horse Girl in full detail. From the complete plot summary and scene-by-scene timeline to character breakdowns, thematic analysis, and a deep dive into the ending — every page helps you truly understand what Horse Girl is all about. Plus, discover what's next after the movie.

Horse Girl Timeline

Track the full timeline of Horse Girl with every major event arranged chronologically. Perfect for decoding non-linear storytelling, flashbacks, or parallel narratives with a clear scene-by-scene breakdown.

Horse Girl Timeline

Characters, Settings & Themes in Horse Girl

Discover the characters, locations, and core themes that shape Horse Girl. Get insights into symbolic elements, setting significance, and deeper narrative meaning — ideal for thematic analysis and movie breakdowns.

Characters, Settings & Themes in Horse Girl

Horse Girl Ending Explained

What really happened at the end of Horse Girl? This detailed ending explained page breaks down final scenes, hidden clues, and alternate interpretations with expert analysis and viewer theories.

Horse Girl Ending Explained

More About Horse Girl

Visit What's After the Movie to explore more about Horse Girl: box office results, cast and crew info, production details, post-credit scenes, and external links — all in one place for movie fans and researchers.

More About Horse Girl

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