Daniel Minahan sets up his film On Swift Horses as a love triangle in which Julius (Jacob Elordi) returns from the Korean War and stays with his brother Lee (Will Poulter) and his new wife Muriel (Daisy Edgar-Jones). As Muriel and Julius dance together, sharing meaningful looks and laughter, On Swift Horses quickly pulls a bait-and-switch on its audience.
In spite of Lee's insistence that the three of them build a life together in San Diego, Julius heads to Las Vegas, where he gets hired at a casino to spy on customers and call out cheaters. There, he meets Henry (Diego Calva). As his and Henry's relationship grows intimate, Julius opens himself up and allows himself to become vulnerable within the safety (and secrecy) of their shared hotel room.
Back in San Diego, Lee trudges forward with the steady life he envisions, insisting on Muriel selling her family home in Kansas to fund their matrimonial home. Unbeknownst to Lee, Muriel is having an affair with their neighbour Sandra (Sasha Calle), discovering a side of herself she seemed almost too frightened to acknowledge earlier.
Bryce Kass's script insists upon belabouring a gambling metaphor throughout the film via Julius's endeavours in Vegas and Muriel's secret penchant for betting on the ponies. There's poetry to be found in this narrative and thematic parallel, but inevitably it takes on a more heavy-handed form that loses its poignancy — a common occurrence throughout the film.
The ensemble cast tries their best to elevate the uneven material. Edgar-Jones, Elordi and Poulter all deliver meaningful turns that lends compassion and empathy to each of their characters' plights. Calva reminds audiences how criminally underrated Babylon is, and Calle makes her case for a breakout role as the confident and forward Sandra.
Working alongside the strong performances, the buttoned-down, straight-laced 1950s provides a fitting backdrop for the film and its characters — a period in American history that when culture simultaneously restricted and expanded, posing a particularly interesting crossroads for Muriel. As we see her and Lee move in to a new development with other families building white picket fences, Muriel takes up an invisible fight with the same society who deems her desires as illegal.
It's one of many layers to the film, as Minahan goes down a multitude of roads and plots, such that On Swift Horses becomes overwhelmed and fails to deliver on the rich storytelling the opening moments promise of an old school Hollywood epic.