“£300? Could’ve gone to Benidorm for that,” scoffs Brian (Owen Teale). His overworked and underappreciated wife, Jan (Toni Collette, luminous and easy to root for), has spent 300 quid on a mare with a syndicate of locals, hoping to breed a racehorse to compete with the best. It’s a wise investment, as Dream Alliance turns out to be a winner and a symbol of hope in Cefn Fforest, an economically depressed former mining village in Wales. But they’re not doing it for the money – it’s for the “hwyl”, a Welsh word meaning “emotional motivation and energy”. With its hero’s journey structure, punchily edited racing scenes and warmly drawn oddball community (a widow, Maureen, is obsessed with Tunnock’s Tea Cakes), the film is shamelessly predictable and thoroughly feelgood.
