Film Review: ON SWIFT HORSES (2024): Daisy Edgar-Jones Shines in a Deep and Fascinating Dramatic Movie

On Swift Horses Review

On Swift Horses (2024) Film Review, a movie directed by Daniel Minahan, written by Bryce Kass and Shannon Pufahl and starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, Jacob Elordi, Will Poulter, Diego Calva, Sasha Calle, Don Swayze, Ryan Fitzgerald, Andrew Keenan-Bolger, Jason Kravits, Dan Martin, John Lee Ames, Patrick Burch, Kat Cunning, Anthony Palermo, Boone Platt, Ted Barton and Chad Coe.

Filmmaker Daniel Minahan creates a layered story with fascinating characters at the helm in the new thought-provoking drama, On Swift Horses. This film is anchored by Daisy Edgar-Jones’ top-flight turn as a married woman named Muriel who encounters serious turbulence in her marriage with a man named Lee (Will Poulter) after she wins $12,000 at the horse track. Not that she was necessarily happily married before winning the money. One of the biggest problems with the new movie is whose pocket that $12 grand ends up in by the film’s conclusion. However, the film’s cast more than makes up for any problems with the daring script which certainly hits more than it misses.

Muriel becomes a waitress when she moves away from her mom’s home with her husband. There at the diner she works, she overhears tips on which horses are going to win the races, and she basically cheats her way to securing the aforementioned $12,000. Yet, we still root for her because she had feelings for Lee’s brother, Julius (the always fascinating Jacob Elordi) who simply took off to pursue his own vision of happiness. All the characters in On Swift Horses are searching for their own form of the American Dream but, only when the final credits roll, do we truly ponder whether or not they’ve achieved the solace they are so desperately looking for in their lives.

Set in the 1950’s, the film excellently creates the time period it displays on-screen. There’s a great subplot where Julius hooks up with a mysterious and handsome guy named Henry (a fine Diego Calva) who, like Julius, shares a love for living on the edge. Julius goes to work for a casino where he can recognize who’s cheating at the gambling tables and who’s not. The plot thickens when Henry gets greedy later on in the film which threatens the happiness of Julius and Henry as lovers. Both Elordi and Calva are exceptional in terms of the way they create their characters’ complicated relationship on-screen.

Sasha Calle is in fine form as Sandra, a friendly neighbor who gives Muriel olives, but also wants to find out if Muriel can sign a petition to keep Sandra’s house from getting torn down. It’s easy to see that Sandra will be a somewhat major part of the story line and that all happens when Muriel and Sandra begin seeing each other on the side and developing a strong bond between them.

Muriel is hiding a lot of her emotions from her husband, Lee, which makes her initially feel unlikable as a character, but we, alas, do like her almost entirely up until the point where she parts with the $12 grand near the film’s conclusion. Daisy Edgar-Jones was born to play this part and succeeds many times over as the frustrated wife who has passions bottled up within her that were not dealt with properly due to the expectations of the time period during which the film is set.

Jacob Elordi is raw, fearless and top-notch as Lee’s brother who lives on the edge and gets himself in sticky situations almost every time he does something risky. Elordi makes this character ooze with authenticity and the actor’s portrayal leaps off the screen with true grit.

Will Poulter is also good although he occasionally comes off feeling like a guy who wouldn’t last ten minutes with Muriel, let alone be married to her. Nevertheless, Poulter acquits himself admirably in his role bringing depth to the part as the husband who is scorned, but not really, when one considers the passions and complexities of Edgar-Jones’ dynamic character.

In support, Kat Cunning stands out as Gail, a woman who fascinates Muriel who would rather have an affair with Sandra who seems more down-to-earth on the surface. However, it turns out that Sandra is just as complex as Muriel is. Sasha Calle makes the most of all her scenes in the movie and is certainly one of the film’s most valuable players as she brings much energy to this supporting part. Calle and Edgar-Jones also have perfect chemistry together which makes the final outcome of their relationship a bit disappointing in the grand scheme of things.

Though the film’s ending is touching, there’s the matter of that $12 grand and where it ends up. I didn’t buy where it went, but I enjoyed the fact that the characters sort of found some kind of peace in their lives by the time the end credits came up. One of the characters even rides a horse off into the sunset to reunite with a true love. On Swift Horses is a deeply rendered soap opera that plays out with a lot of heart and emotion. Daisy Edgar-Jones’ brave turn here signals great things to come from the very accomplished actress while Elordi continues to impress time and time again with each new role he takes on.

Rating: 7.5/10

Leave your thoughts on this On Swift Horses review and the film below in the comments section. Readers seeking to support this type of content can visit our Patreon Page and become one of FilmBook’s patrons. Readers seeking more film reviews can visit our Movie Review Page, our Movie Review Twitter Page, and our Movie Review Facebook Page. Want up-to-the-minute notifications? FilmBook staff members publish articles by Email, Mobile App, Google News, Feedly, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, Reddit, Telegram, Mastodon, Flipboard, and Threads.