Sporting quite the cast of up-and-coming talent, On Swift Horses, starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, Jacob Elordi, Will Poulter, Diego Calva, and Sasha Calle premiered at TIFF last fall and will now get a showcase at SXSW ahead of an April 25 release. Ahead of the roll-out, Sony Pictures Classics have now debuted the first trailer for Daniel Minahan’s 1950s-set melodrama.
Here’s the synopsis: “Muriel (Daisy Edgar Jones) and her husband Lee (Will Poulter) are beginning a bright new life in California when he returns from the Korean War. But their newfound stability is upended by the arrival of Lee’s charismatic brother, Julius (Jacob Elordi), a wayward gambler with a secret past. A dangerous love triangle quickly forms. When Julius takes off in search of the young card cheat he’s fallen for, Muriel’s longing for something more propels her into a secret life of her own, gambling on racehorses and exploring a love she never dreamed possible.”
Christopher Schobert said in his review, “It’s somehow fitting that the film featuring this group is a soapy slice of ’50s melodrama, one ultimately centered around same-sex desire at a time when such things were fraught with danger. Adapted by Bryce Klass from Shannon Pufahl’s 2019 novel, On Swift Horses is brought to life with panache and great care by Minahan, who’s best-known as a television director (Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace, Game of Thrones). Indeed there are times in which it feels like the rather messy, tangled plotlines of Horses seem better-suited to the series treatment. “
See the trailer below.