Movie Treatment
Directed by: Angelina Jolie
Starring: Luis Morgado, Joe Morgado, Tom Cruise
Music: Miley Cyrus & Nelly Furtado
LOGLINE
A troubled but gifted pair of jockey brothers, Luis and Joe Morgado, are given one miraculous chance at redemption when the eccentric, charismatic owner Tom Kellerman (Tom Cruise) recruits them to ride his dark horse—Sunday Silence—on a destiny-bound path toward the impossible: the Triple Crown.
TONE & STYLE
Angelina Jolie directs with sweeping elegance: dust in the sunlight, hooves hitting wet earth in slow motion, close-up human emotion framed against mythic Americana. A blend of Seabiscuit, The Wrestler, and There Will Be Blood, with a spiritual and psychological undercurrent.
Miley Cyrus provides raw, emotional anthems.
Nelly Furtado provides ethereal, haunting world-pop textures—giving the film its spiritual heartbeat.
SETTING
The story travels the major racetracks of America—the Santa Anita Derby, the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and Belmont—but its soul lies in the forgotten ranchlands where broken people and broken horses find each other.
ACT I – THE DARK HORSE
The film opens with dramatic aerial shots of a storm breaking over a lonely California ranch. A black colt—later revealed as Sunday Silence—sprints wildly through the mud. There’s poetry in its chaos.
TOM KELLERMAN (Tom Cruise), a maverick owner known for his superstition, risk-taking, and undying belief in destiny, watches with awe. He believes this horse isn’t just fast—
he believes it is chosen.
Meanwhile, the Morgado brothers live separate failing lives:
- Luis Morgado, calm, disciplined, but haunted by an accident that nearly ended his career.
- Joe Morgado, fiery, emotional, brilliant but self-destructive, banned from multiple tracks for fights.
Tom approaches them separately with the same message:
“This horse needs two jockeys, not one. He runs like he has two souls fighting. I want both of you.”
The brothers haven’t spoken in years. Their reunion is tense—painful—yet Tom insists they learn to work together to unlock the horse’s potential.
Nelly Furtado’s “Try” plays over a training montage as the trio bond with Sunday Silence.
The horse responds to them—as if understanding their brokenness.
ACT II – THE ROAD TO GREATNESS
Sunday Silence shocks the racing world by winning the Santa Anita Derby, with Luis riding. But Joe’s instincts shape the strategy. The brothers begin to rediscover their connection.
A new rivalry emerges:
Eclipse Champion “Easy Majesty” and his ruthless trainer.
The media declares Sunday Silence “too wild, too flawed.”
Tom, smiling like a gambler who sees the future, says:
“Flawed things break expectations.”
Tension builds between Luis and Joe. Each wants to be the sole rider for the Kentucky Derby. Angelina Jolie frames this conflict with quiet emotional scenes—long shadows, soft natural light, subtle glances. Miley Cyrus’s “The Climb” (acoustic remix) plays during a nighttime training scene where the brothers wordlessly reconcile through work.
Kentucky Derby
Luis rides. The track is mud. Sunday Silence explodes from behind and takes the lead in the final stretch.
A stunned crowd witnesses the impossible.
Sunday Silence becomes a national phenomenon.
But after the victory, Joe feels overshadowed. Old wounds reopen. He leaves the stable, returning to self-destructive habits.
Tom Cruise delivers one of the film’s core monologues:
“You don’t ride horses with your hands.
You ride them with your soul.
And your soul is cracked—but that’s where the light gets in.”
Joe returns for the Preakness. This time, he rides. The Morgado brothers swap roles, proving the horse’s adaptability. Sunday Silence wins again in a heartbreakingly close photo finish.
The Triple Crown is now within reach—but the internal tension is at its peak.
ACT III – BELMONT: THE LONGEST MILE
The Belmont Stakes looms—the race that breaks champions.
Easy Majesty is favored.
The press says Sunday Silence is running on luck.
Luis and Joe must decide who will ride the final race.
In a deeply emotional scene—shot in near-silence—Luis tells Joe:
“You ride.
Because you need this more than I do.”
Angelina Jolie films their handshake like a holy ritual.
The Belmont Stakes
Nelly Furtado sings an original, haunting track as the horses enter the gate.
The race is brutal. The stretch is endless.
Joe becomes one with Sunday Silence.
He sees Luis at the sidelines, nodding.
He sees Tom praying under his breath.
He feels the horse’s heart firing like a war drum.
They surge forward.
The crowd rises.
Sunday Silence wins—by a margin so small it becomes legend.
EPILOGUE – THE LEGACY OF SILENCE
Sunday Silence retires to a peaceful pasture in Japan (reflecting the real horse’s destiny). Joe and Luis stand together watching him—a symbol not only of victory, but of healing.
Tom Kellerman smiles:
“Not bad for a horse nobody believed in.
Including the men riding him.”
Miley & Nelly collaborate on a final track—soft, powerful, spiritual—playing as the camera lifts above the ranch, sunlight streaming across green fields.
Fade out.
Sunday Silence: A legend born from the broken, carried by belief.