On Swift Horses (15)

Mild-mannered war veteran Lee Walker plans a life of quiet domesticity in California with his wife Muriel and younger brother Julius. Restless after an early discharge from the US Army, Julius steals money from Lee to seek his fortune in Nevada, where he lands a job in security at a casino and sparks forbidden desire with co-worker Henry. Meanwhile, Muriel neglects to tell Lee about her run of good fortune at the horse-racing track.

LondonNet Film Review

On Swift Horses (15) Film Review from LondonNet

Daisy Edgar-Jones, Jacob Elordi and Will Poulter headline a slow-burning romantic drama set in the immediate aftermath of the Korean War, when same sex relationships were conducted behind closed doors to avoid violent repercussions and damning moral judgment. “We’re all just a hair’s breadth away from losing everything, all the time,” whispers one affected character as she sits motionless in a bar surrounded by other patrons holding their breaths, listening intently to the sound of a police raid hammering on the establishment’s front door, angrily demanding entry…

Secrets and lies breed like rabbits in On Swift Horses, a sensitively handled portrait of conflicted morality and repressed desires, adapted by screenwriter Bryce Kass from Shannon Pufahl’s novel. Cinematographer Luc Montpellier repeatedly ravishes the eyes and makes the heart swoon with breathtaking tableaux, roaming from the crisp sparkle of snow-laden landscapes in rural Kansas to the retina-searing light show of Las Vegas. Director Daniel Minahan choreographs electrically charged sex scenes between lead cast, contrasting their unabashed joy and naivete in private with the tightly coiled anxiety of their public facades. One wrong move could bring their worlds tumbling down.

Mild-mannered war veteran Lee Walker (Poulter) plans a life of quiet domesticity in California with his wife Muriel (Edgar-Jones) and younger brother Julius (Elordi). Restless after an early discharge from the US Army, Julius steals money from Lee to seek his fortune in Nevada, where he lands a job in security at a casino and sparks forbidden desire with co-worker Henry (Diego Calva), which is consummated away from prying eyes. Back in their hotel room, Julius and Henry fantasise about using the same underhand tactics as card sharps to line their pockets.

Meanwhile, Muriel neglects to tell Lee about her run of good fortune at the horse-racing track, where she places bets based on the insider tips she overhears while working as a diner waitress. A particularly good day of accumulator bets returns life-changing winnings and Muriel quits while she is ahead. “If you think too much about luck, it starts to own you,” she warns another punter (Kat Cunning). There is a spark of mutual attraction between the women and Muriel contemplates an affair.

On Swift Horses canters leisurely through the pages of Pufahl’s book, riding high on compelling performances from the central trio. The final act’s quiet devastation feels somehow anticlimactic after the sustained build-up of dramatic tension, and the angst of one romantic pairing resolves with a convenient serendipity that only seems to exist on a big screen. Elordi cements his status as a modern-day matinee idol while Edgar-Jones and Poulter unpick their on-screen marriage at the seams and let messy raw emotions tumble out.

– Jo Planter