While the lack of blind film critics means that studios are not yet accustomed to attaching an English Audio description track to digital (or even physical) screeners, I have to believe that there are visually impaired critics who would benefit, but more likely guild members. So it always baffles me when i get a screener for a film like on Swift horses, which is being released by Sony Pictures Classics, and there’s no description. Not only does their screener platform support changing the audio track, if an alternate one were uploaded, but they make audio description for their titles on a regular basis. So my review reflects the lack of audio description i recieved for a film you could go watch with audio description today. Weird, i know.
Originally premiering at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, and kicking up dirt at its domestic debut at SXSW in March, On Swift horses is a debut feature directorial effort based on a debut novel. In other words, two creatives who are more recognized for their work in other mediums are largely responsible for this cinematic throwback. But for a film in 2025, which seems to yearn for the days of Rock Hudson and James dean, it attacks the subject matter with kid gloves, while never making any meaningful effort to do more than present a glossy sheen of queer life in the transitional time of the 1950’s. Coming out of the Korean War, prior to the space race, the peak of the civil rights movement, and an exploration of sexual identity and female independence, On Swift Horses should feel like it is pulsating with possibility, but it just doesn’t. instead of relying upon the yearning and desire bleeding out of its characters pores, it seems to not have time to explore the complex push and pull these characters have with their emotions.
Daisy Edgar-Jones is fine as Muriel, our de facto lead, a woman who cannot be kept, but ultimately is, but certainly never tamed, until she just might be. She’s clearly complex, as she initially rebuffs her future husband Lee (Will Poulter), until she meets his more magnetic brother Julius (Jacob elordi), who has just gotten back from being discharged. There’s a connection between these two that cannot possibly last, but almost suggests an alternate version of the film where Muriel becomes entangled between two brothers, ultimately driving Lee to likely do something dire. However, that is not what the film is about. lee will spend more of the movie being as unremarkable as humanly possible, not because Pulter is a bad actor, but because this is a queer story, and he’s the lone straight lead. his only hope or dream seems to be Muriel, and a life with her, but we know that she never wanted to be where she is.
eventually, Muriel learns a bit about horse racing and betting, and her gambling becomes somewhat of a staple trait for her character, but is more like a bridge between her life as it is, and what she wants it to be, as it leads her to become enamored with Sandra (Sasha Calle), clearly a lesbian from the on set, and Muriel’s gateway to self discovery. there’s some connection between these two, but as with a lot of gay love stories, it can be hard to tell if the rush on Muriel’s end comes simply from the actualization of herself, or if she is truly in love with the person Sandra is. Sandra is more of a plot device than a character, opening up Muriel’s world, and forcing the conversation that was always going to come for her and lee.
Meanwhile, Julius relocates, and starts balancing odd casually illegal jobs, until he runs into Henry (Diego Calva), who is basically doing the same thing. They seem to have instant chemistry, or at least as much as this film will allow. It really is just Diego calva, the true standout of the film, who bleeds the kind of yearning for more that this film is missing. He seems to want to be the air that Julius breathes, and Julius is given the more sensible and realistic reactions to the times. he’s aware that the world in the 1950’s truly would be dangerous for them if they were discovered, so their relationship outside of the bedroom is professional, until Henry wants to try and use their closeness to run scams on the casinos. This complicates their relationship, and ultimately could serve as the nail in the coffin of the most interesting aspect of the film. That’s for you to discover, though, as this is a review, and not a tawdry tell all.
But I wish it was. i wish the film was a bit tawdry, a bit salacious, a little dangerous, more flirty, and several other things. I wanted characters to be in the same space and feel electric, and when they are apart for the film to focus on the yearning for that reunion. it moves the chess pieces all around the board, but it never really attacks any of its pieces. It’s a chess game where all the pieces are still somehow standing, or in a more direct film comparison, it is what I would imagine an aggressively straight director would do when asked to direct a film with characters he doesn’t understand. Imagine if Brokeback Mountain had been directed by Clint Eastwood. he’d be capable of capturing the concept of the time and period, and the beauty of the landscape, but would have no idea how to maneuver his gay leads in meaningful ways.
The sad thing is that director Daniel Minahan did episodes of Fellow Travelers, a show that could put Matt Bomer on screen, and tell a thousand years of anguish in a single shot. A show so captivatingly accurate and interesting should have inspired more from minahan, but instead he comes across as functionally competent in getting a film to screen. On Swift Horses is never terrible, but it is never below the surface either. If you picked up a magazine with a great cover, and found it had no interior, would you still want the magazine?
The best reason to watch is Diego Calva, as well as some interesting scoring, and an effective original song. The reason to stay away is that you could easily find a film with more human connection, gay or straight, than this. the cast does what they can, but they just aren’t offered much to work with. it is amazing how much Calva pulls out of this film.
Rotten: Final grade: C
