It’s been some time since we’ve had such a ridiculously attractive lineup of buzzworthy young actors as the quartet starring in Daniel Minahan’s On Swift Horses. Daisy Edgar-Jones, the tremendously talented star of Twisters and Normal People, is Muriel, a young woman in 1950s Kansas. Her soon-to-be husband, Lee, is played by Will Poulter, who has shined in everything from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 to Kathryn Bigelow’s underrated Detroit. Returning from Korea––and making his introduction to Muriel shirtless, reclining on a car––is Lee’s brother, Julius. Yes, friends: the devil-may-care Julius is played by Jacob Elordi. I have not even gotten to the characters played by Babylon’s Diego Calva and Sasha Calle, a.k.a., the best thing about The Flash.
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.
When Julius shows up on Muriel and Lee’s doorstep, the trio hatch a plan to move from chilly Kansas to the sunny paradise (on paper, at least) that is San Diego. The plan is decided upon over the course of one night, and as the group celebrates something seems to be developing between Muriel and Julius. Is there a spark? Or is it instead the sense that neither Muriel nor Julius really knows what they want? Oddly, the story splits the group up. Muriel and Lee start their new life in California while Julius turns tricks, cheats at cards, and eventually earns a casino job catching others in the act. It’s here that Julius meets Henry (Calva), a man nearly as dashing as he and just as ready to live dangerously.
There are various points in which the film seems destined to dissolve into camp; there are some very funny moments in On Swift Horses, but there are just as many that cause unintended laughter. These are more plentiful near the end, and during its final stretch On Swift Horses becomes far too messy. It culminates in a final shot that some will find laughably silly. And they would not be wrong. But it somehow fits the tone of this strange, tonally wacky concoction.
For those who have not read Pufahl’s book, the plot of On Swift Horses is full of genuine surprises––most of them involving Muriel. Daisy Edgar-Jones portrays her with just the right mix of Eisenhower-era blandness and hidden sexual yearning. Her character’s journey involves gambling, lying, and finally the realization that she may be looking for a life very, very different from the one she shares with Lee. Elordi is fine in a role that tows the line between sleepy and sensual while Poulter is saddled with the film’s most one-note character; Diego Calva and Sasha Calle, as an enigmatic neighbor who forms a bond with Muriel, fare better.
Minahan and Klass struggle to balance the film’s many characters and disparate storylines, but at the same time they’ve created a film populated by people who are wildly compelling. They also spotlight a time in the not-too-distant past when the discovery of homosexuality could cost one’s life. One of the most moving scenes in On Swift Horses is a slow pan over photos of missing men and women who dared seek love. Minutes later, of course, is that final shot. But when the cast is this talented, and the story––even in its more absurd moments––this compelling, such flaws can be forgiven. Minahan has directed a fascinating, endearingly offbeat film that serves as another reminder that for individuals like Muriel and Julius, the 1950s were not so fabulous.
On Swift Horses premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.