Jacob Elordi in particular has been on a hot streak since he first popped in Sam Levinson’s HBO drama Euphoria. Including that performance he has largely played sociopaths that use the people around him, his characters exerting their power over those with less social or economic clout. In ‘On Swift Horses’ Elordi does bring that dark energy into his character, but Julius is a much softer sweeter performance than we usually see. It’s a nice change of pace, but that darkness that Elordi has in him often overshadows the more sensitive angles of the character of Julius.

Daisy Edgar-Jones plays Muriel, a young girl that has just married Lee (Will Poulter), Julius’ older brother. Muriel and Julius meet and through conversation it’s revealed that both of these characters are queer and grappling with how they fit into 1950s America, and what that might look like if they stick with Lee and his plans for their future. Lee is optimistically unaware as he plans out their lives and a sort of ‘manifest destiny’ of where they will live and how wonderful their life can be. Much like the realities of manifest destiny though, Lee’s plan does not take into account all the lives of everyone affected by simply saying “We will live here, and it will be great.”

Eventually things come to a head and Julius realizes he needs to set out on his own, and meets another young man he falls in love with, Henry (Diego Calva). Henry and Julius life together burns how, even as Lee and Muriel worry about their family member. The film often tilts at tropes that are frustrating from a queer drama, but at the same time is usually deft at avoiding the most egregious ones. I think the last act of the movie is when it’s operating at it’s best. Lee seems to know that Julius is queer, but is wholly unaware of his wife’s proclivities until the very end. The conversation they have, in an empty house that Lee is trying to build for them, for their future, is the best acting and writing in the movie. To say Lee understands would be a lie, but he’s kind and soft and trying to grapple with something he loves has told him. Just an absolutely gut wrenching performance from Will Poulter.

As good as the script is sometimes it feels a little meandering. Which is frustrating because when it’s great it’s positively triumphant. I’ve not read the book that it’s based on but it feels like an attempt to adapt every nook you can into the script when maybe edits were necessary. The other main issue is what I was talking about out the gate, Elordi is simply too menacing to play this soft, sweet, mysterious, queer man. I understand why you want parts of what make Jacob Elordi an engaging screen presence, but it’s too much darkness. When he’s talking to Henry about how much he cares for him, it’s hard to not view it as a threat.

Diego does nail his performance though. Just entirely charm and panache, and he pivots hard from his confused sweetness that he brought with him in ‘Babylon’. Diego Calva’s Henry is hardened, but still willing to risk it all for love. He’s seen bad things happen to his friends in 1950s America so he’s closed off, even as Julius tries to bring him out of his shell. It’s a shame that my favorite two performances here are the supporting ones of Calva and Poulter, behind the weaker work of Edgar-Jones and Elordi.

As many issues as I had with ‘On Swift Horses’ I think the structure of what Director Daniel Minahan and writer Bryce Kass are going for are largely there and largely successful. And it’s wonderful to see a queer drama that is determined to not fall into the same pitfalls as others, it’s as close to ‘Carol’ as we’ve been since.

3.5/5