Film Review: On Swift Horses
Film
On Swift Horses
Director: Daniel Minahan
Key Lime Entertainment
In Theaters: 04.25.25
There’s a frustratingly narrow line between character studies that explore relationships and sexuality and pulpy, overwrought melodrama, and that line is almost invariably even thinner in a film adaptation of a book. On Swift Horses is very far from one of the worst films to come from such roots, though that’s more a commentary on just how dreadful they can be than anything else.
Set in post-Korean War America, On Swift Horses follows Muriel (Daisy Edgar-Jones, Where The Crawdads Sing, Twisters), a newlywed waitress who marries Lee (Will Poulter, Detroit, Death of a Unicorn), a soldier seeking stability. When Lee’s brother Julius (Jacob Elordi, Priscilla, Saltburn) — a charming, nomadic gambler — arrives, Muriel feels an immediate spark between them. Julius teaches her to play cards, and by the time he leaves, she’s caught the bug and takes up a successful hobby betting on horse races. After moving to California, Muriel begins to feel restless and unfulfilled in the life she’s built as a housewife and feels compelled explore hidden aspects of her sexuality. Enter Sandra (Sasha Calle, The Flash, In The Summers), a mutual attraction forms between them, and their girlfriends relationship quickly turns into a secret “girlfriends” relationship. Meanwhile, ambles, rambles, and gambles his way around the country, he winds up in Las Vegas, where he falls hard for Henry (Diego Calva, Babylon), a fellow casino worker. As Muriel and Julius drift between desire and disillusion, their bond reveals shared longings and the constraints of conformity, as the hapless Lee continues in his all consuming quest to find ways to work the word “goddammit” into literally every conversation.
On Swift Horses is a slow burn that requires patience, at best taking its time building to something and at worst meandering around struggling to pad a rather thin storyline out to feature length. Director Daniel Minahan, known largely for his work in episodic television after helping the low budget inside feature Series 7: The Contenders in 2001, does a solid job establish the period setting, though he struggles not only with pacing, but with tone, and there’s a frustrating lack of passionate feeling in a film that’s ostensibly about following and finding one’s passions. The strongest aspect of On Swift Horses is a willingness to be a film about the process of trying to figure one’s place on the sexual spectrum, nicely avoiding pigeonholing it into the same old “they won’t admit to themselves that they are gay” story we’ve seen in countless other movies. It’s just unfortunate that it never quite managed to make me feel invested in any of these relationships. Minahan’s tentative approach restricts the audience to the role of distanced observer rather than letting us connect enough with Muriel or Julius enough to get inside their heads as the film never seems clear on who the point of view character is supposed to be.
The selling point here is the cast, and Edgar-Jones is terrific as the warm yet enigmatic Muriel, the girl next door who gives everything of herself until she can longer ignore her own needs. Elordi is effectively charming even if Julius is endlessly melancholy, and Poulter is giving everything he’s got to trying to bring some depth to a difficult character, one who’s essential function in the story is to not be complicated. A number of elements of the story would be easier — too easy — if Lee were a genuinely bad person husband rather than just simple and clueless, and the choice to resist the urge to vilify him is a good one. Unfortunately, there’s more to admire about the things the film doesn’t do than to truly be excited by what it does, and it spends its entire runtime trying to find its footing. Calle’s Sandra is the most appealing character, yet she’s treated merely as a plot device in Muriel’s personal story. Calva’s Henry gets a bit more screen time, yet less definition as a person, and after his charismatic presence emerged as one of the few things that really worked about Babylon, it’s frustrating to see him show up in a major release again only to be so underused.
On Swift Horses is more sluggish than swift, though manages to get itself from one end of the track to the other. There’s some scenery for the rider to look at along the way, and it maintains just enough of a steady trot to make it to the finish line, but it would have been nice if it found more moments to accelerate to a full gallop. It’s not going to be sent to the glue factory straight away, but it’s not going to be earning any wreaths or ribbons either. —Patrick Gibbs
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