On Swift Horses is an engaging melodrama with a seductive ensemble

It’s been a while since we’ve had such a ridiculously attractive line-up of high-profile young actors as the quartet starring in Daniel Minahan’s On fast horses. Daisy Edgar-Jones, the hugely talented star of Whirlwinds And Normal peopleis Muriel, a young woman in 1950s Kansas. Her future husband, Lee, is played by Will Poulter, who has shone in everything from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 to Kathryn Bigelow’s underrated Detroit. Returning from Korea––and making his introduction to Muriel, shirtless, lying on a car––is Lee’s brother, Julius. Yes, friends: the devil-may-care Julius is played by Jacob Elordi. I haven’t even gotten to the characters played by Babylon‘s Diego Calva and Sasha Calle, also known as the best at The Flash.

It’s somehow fitting that the film featuring this group is a soapy slice of ’50s melodrama, one that ultimately revolves around same-sex desire in a time when such things were fraught with danger. Adapted by Bryce Klass from Shannon Pufahl’s 2019 novel, On fast horses is brought to life with verve and great care by Minahan, who is best known as a television director (Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace, Game of Thrones). There are indeed moments when it feels like the rather messy, confusing storylines of Horses seem better suited for serial treatment.

When Julius shows up on Muriel and Lee’s doorstep, the trio hatches a plan to move from cold Kansas to the sunny paradise (on paper, at least) of San Diego. The plan is hatched over the course of one night, and as the group parties, something seems to blossom between Muriel and Julius. Is there a spark? Or is it instead the feeling that neither Muriel nor Julius really know what they want? Oddly enough, the story splits the group up. Muriel and Lee begin their new life in California, while Julius tricks, cheats at cards, and eventually earns a job in a casino by catching others in the act. It’s here that Julius meets Henry (Calva), a man almost as handsome as he is and just as willing to live dangerously.

There are several points where the film seems doomed to descend into camp; there are some very funny moments in On fast horsesbut there are just as many that cause unintentional laughter. These are more abundant towards the end, and during the last part On fast horses gets way too messy. It culminates in a final shot that some will find ridiculously stupid. And they wouldn’t be wrong. But it somehow fits the tone of this strange, tonally wonky concoction.

For those who haven’t read Pufahl’s book, the plot of On fast horses is full of genuine surprises, most of which have to do with Muriel. Daisy Edgar-Jones portrays her with just the right mix of Eisenhower-era dullness and hidden sexual yearning. Her character’s journey involves gambling, lying and ultimately the realization that she may be looking for a life very, very different from the one she shares with Lee. Elordi is fine in a role that tows the line between sleepy and sensual, while Poulter is stuck with the film’s most monotonous character; Diego Calva and Sasha Calle, as an enigmatic neighbor who bonds with Muriel, fare better.

Minahan and Klass struggle to balance the film’s many characters and disparate storylines, but at the same time they’ve created a film full of people that’s incredibly compelling. They also illuminate a time in the not-too-distant past when the discovery of homosexuality could cost someone their life. One of the most moving scenes in On fast horses is a slow pan across photographs of missing men and women who dared to seek love. Minutes later, of course, is that final shot. But when the cast is this talented, and the story – even in its most absurd moments – this compelling, such flaws can be forgiven. Minahan has directed a fascinating, endearingly unconventional film that serves as another reminder that for individuals like Muriel and Julius, the 1950s weren’t so great.

On fast horses premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.