“It’s all luck really,” says one character in on swift horseA 1950s comedy drama starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and James Elordi. Although the character meets Edgar-Jones’ Muriel by gambling on horse races, the happiness she refers to encompasses so much more. The lives they lead, meeting secretly in a strange bar in downtown San Diego, two husbands at home waiting for them; How they are able to explore their passions in a way that other characters in the film cannot.
At the Q&A following the premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, on swift horse Director Daniel Minahan said the film is “A Re-Imagining of the American Dream Through a Strange Lens,” And the accompanying story, based on the novel of the same name by Shannon Puffahl, is suitably elegiac. Although the script fails to follow through on some of its promises, the subtext is there and Elordi, Edgar-Jones and the rest of the cast give quietly devastating performances as their dreams manifest in ways they cannot predict.
On swift horse transcends scripted problems and become something deeply moving
The cast is excellent across the board
The dreams begin with a journey west, a sort of manifest destiny for Lee (Will Poulter) and Julius (Elordi). The brothers have promised each other they’ll move to San Diego once their tours in Korea are over and Muriel (Edgar-Jones), Lee’s soon-to-be fiancee, is pulled along for the ride. Those dreams are dashed, however, when Julius arrives at Muriel’s Kansas farm, discharged from the army without pay.
Despite this, Muriel is instantly attracted to Julius, although it is unclear if it is platonic or something deeper. They continue to exchange letters once they part ways, Julius off to Vegas and Muriel to San Diego with Lee. Poulter’s character wants a traditional life with Muriel – a house they can call their own, kids with the woman he loves.
It comes with great pain and even greater love, all of which is beautifully portrayed by the film’s all-star cast.
But Muriel’s dreams were not yet fully formed; It’s not until she meets her neighbor Sandra (Cale) and starts gambling on horses that she figures out what she really wants, which clashes with Lee’s vision for their lives. On the contrary, Julius acts as if he knows what he wants, cheats with the cards and moves to the side in order to make himself – live every day like there is no tomorrow, as his brother says. But Julius realizes what he really wants when Calva’s Henry enters the picture. He falls in love and curbs his risky instincts for something much simpler.
Once Julius and Muriel start going after what they really want, they essentially switch perspectives. Julius wants safety – he’s back to cheat the casino he and Henry work in for risk of ruining the good thing they have. Muriel wants the risk in her life – she starts betting on horses, hiding Lee’s earnings and sneaking off to rendezvous with Sandra and another woman she meets in the tracks.
Julius and Muriel are drawn to each other out of both attraction and a deeper understanding of who the other is. Both explore their passions, chasing their own version of the American Dream through whatever channels they can and often at the expense of or despite Sandra and Henry’s own dreams, which cannot move through the world in the same way as Julius. and Muriel.
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After all, they find their way. on swift horse Uses significant points in American history to trace not only the journey of the characters, but the journey of America. In one scene, Henry takes Julius to watch a nuclear bomb test in the desert where people still dance in the sand. The old world is burning, and they are flourishing a way forward.
It is not an easy road to walk. It comes with great pain and even greater love, all of which is beautifully portrayed by the film’s all-star cast. It’s really an Edgar-Jones movie, her best role since Normal peopleAlthough both Calva and Calle give strong performances that help elevate the film. on swift horseWith its sweeping romance and epic nature, feels out of time, transcending any issues to become something deeply affecting.
on swift horse Premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. The film is 117 minutes long and has not yet been rated.
On Swift Horses is a historical drama set in the 1950s, where a young woman delves into the burgeoning gambling scene of San Diego to track down her missing brother-in-law, uncovering secrets and the dark underbelly of post-war America in the process.