“British filmmaker Andrew Haigh (Weekend, 45 Years) hits the American highway for this touching tale of a troubled boy who strikes up a rapport with an ailing racehorse called Lean on Pete. This good-natured four-legged friend can't arrive quickly enough for 15-year-old Portland teen Charley (Charlie Plummer): His mom is long gone, a loving aunt is nothing but a preoccupying memory and his well-meaning but wildly erratic dad (Travis Fimmel) is hardly a thoroughbred in the parent stakes.
“The movie's strongest scenes come early, as the collapse of Charley's fragile home life is softened by finding a new purpose elsewhere. He earns cash helping out likable old racing hand Del (Steve Buscemi), who races horses in scrappy local competitions, sometimes with the help of past-it jockey Bonnie (Chloë Sevigny).
“Haigh is nothing if not a sensitive, compassionate director, and he puts a lot of faith in young Plummer in the film's many quiet scenes, especially those in which it's just Charley and his horse.” - Time Out