When the bill read Will Poulter (“The Bear”), Jacob Elordi (“Euphoria” and the derisive “Saltburn”), and Daisy Edgar-Jones (“Normal People”, “TWISTERS”), I wanted to be there before the previews’ previews. On paper, “On Swift Horses” (adapted from Shannon Pufhal’s novel) promises a kaleidoscopic lens of a sun-warped 1950s Americana—a covert time that marks the perfect era to explore secret lives and hidden longings. The first few minutes tease familiar trappings of a brother vs. brother love triangle, all doe-eyed for the luminous housewife. But the story quietly diverts, instead following two parallel lives drawn together not by lust or rivalry, but by the shared understanding of what it means to live in shadows of reality.
Muriel (Edgar-Jones) and Julius (Elordi) are compelling mirrors: one locked in a conventional marriage, the other slipping through the cracks of expectation. Muriel meets Julius—or rather, his abs stretched out on the hood of a car—after he returns from the Korean War. There’s some whispered innuendos and a dance between the two, quickly followed by a proposal from Julius’ brother Lee (Poulter). With the “two people he loves most” in the same room, the trio make a promise to each other to move from Kansas to San Diego. But of course, this is a delusional happily ever after that doesn’t come to fruition.
Muriel finds herself waitressing, with a secret side hustle as a horse bettor after getting intel from her customers. When she and Lee move into a cookie cutter starter home, she meets an intriguing neighbor Sandra. Their connection starts innocently over a jar of olives, but eventually leads to a double life—all while Lee sits at the dinner table, blissfully unaware. Meanwhile Julius finds love in both a new job as an eye for con artists on the Vegas Strip (and with his conniving coworker, Henry).
For all intents and purposes, Muriel and Julius read and watch like the same character; at one point, Lee even mentions to Muriel that she has characteristics of him. But it’s arguable that while Edgar-Jones provides depth to a somewhat-shallow gal, Elordi leaves something to be desired. Ever the cinephile, he does bring an Old Hollywood sensibility to his performance—he’s stylized, fragile, and yearning. You can feel the ghost of James Dean in his posture. But it’s still just okay.
Overall, the emotional weight of the film feels muddied by overwrought storytelling and erratic editing. “On Swift Horses” still ultimately hinges on what feels like a heterosexual narrative arc, with Muriel frustratingly unaware of the emotional wreckage her choices leave behind. She drifts in and out of Lee and Sandra’s lives unscathed and detached.
In the end, there’s a clear message to follow what makes your heart beat. But in attempting to juggle topics of repression against romantic idealism, “On Swift Horses” drops the reins.
Movie Times: Click Here
Genre: Romance/Drama
Director: Daniel Minahan
Actors: Sasha Calle, Diego Calva, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Jacob Elordi, Will Poulter
Run Time: 1 hr, 59 min
Rating: R for Sexual Content, Nudity, and Some Language
