The elegant, aching and tender romantic drama, “On Swift Horses” — out April 25 at area theaters — tells two parallel stories of queer desire in 1957. One involves Julius (Jacob Elordi), who gambles with cards; the other concerns his sister-in-law, Muriel (Daisy Edgar-Jones), who bets on horses. They have a palpable, unspoken bond from the minute she meets him, when he’s lying shirtless on a car outside her Kansas home at Christmastime. But as time goes on, they often find themselves at cross-purposes.
After Muriel and her husband Lee (Will Poulter) move to San Diego, California, she takes a job as a waitress. Overhearing horse racing tips, she heads to the racetrack and secretly builds a nest egg. While Muriel makes money, Julius loses the cash he wins in a poker game. Broke, Julius asks Muriel for bus fare to keep a promise to be with them, but instead he heads to Las Vegas to try his luck.
In Sin City, Julius takes a job at a casino working pit surveillance. His colleague, Henry (Diego Calva), convinces Julius to spend time with him outside of work. However, Julius is wary. After Henry follows Julius back to his hotel room, and kisses him passionately, the guys quickly fall into a hot and heavy relationship.
Meanwhile, Muriel, empowered by winning at the track, agrees to buy a home with Lee in a new development in the valley. On the way home from checking out the property, Muriel impulsively stops for olives and meets Sandra (Sasha Calle from “In the Summers”) who discreetly flirts with her. Sandra awakens feelings in Muriel, which grow when she receives a coded message from Gail (Kat Cunning), a woman she meets at the racetrack. Gail passes Muriel a pack of matches from the Chester Hotel, a secret hangout for gay men and women, that stirs Muriel to act on her curiosity.
“On Swift Horses” is all about the risk and reward of gambling — and of being queer at a time when it was dangerous. The Chester is frequently raided by police, adding to the ever-present tension. Adapted from Shannon Pufahl’s novel by screenwriter Bryce Kass and directed by Daniel Minahan, the film builds suspense as characters risk getting caught “misbehaving.” A scene where Lee and Muriel share a silent ride home after he unexpectedly picks her up outside Sandra’s house is quietly revealing, as is a moment between Henry and Julius when they are discovered in a compromising situation.
But the film is also very seductive. Henry is one tall drink of tequila, who literally falls into Julius’ arms in 115-degree heat. He’s affectionate, and their hotel room love scenes are strikingly intimate. He’s also ambitious, believing they can cheat at cards and win enough money to escape the confines of their room and build a life together. But Julius, who claims he has always been, “a thief, a faggot, and alone,” is skeptical of Henry’s plan, even if it gives him hope.
As for Muriel, while she meets Gail at the Chester, she soon leaves to go visit Sandra. Spending some alone time with Sandra, Muriel gives into her desires, and experiences sexual pleasure she has not likely had in her marriage. However, Muriel’s circumstances restrict her from living as openly as Sandra does.
As Gail says, tellingly in one scene, “We are all just a hair’s breadth from losing everything, all the time.” The film’s tension comes from how Julius and Muriel keep secrets and navigate their relationships which may blow up in their faces. A conversation between Julius and Muriel, where he tries to reveal his truth, and silently acknowledges hers, is quite moving.
While the characters bury their emotions deep — so much so that some viewers may find them to be rather stiff — Jacob Elordi delivers a subtle, sensitive performance. He deftly conveys how Julius comes to realize, after years of loneliness, what love may look like and that Henry may not be “working an angle.” Likewise, Edgar-Jones develops Muriel’s sense of independence as she finds financial and personal freedom — even though she struggles in her relationships with Lee and Sasha. Edgar-Jones imbues her character with a sense of poignancy during Muriel’s more difficult moments.
In support, both Diego Calva and Sasha Calle give strong, confident performances as Henry and Sandra, respectively, in part because their characters are comfortable with themselves and their sexuality. Watching Henry lock eyes with Julius while dancing with someone else is delicious and seeing Sandra help Muriel experience pleasure is appealing.
“On Swift Horses” features crisp and burnish cinematography, stylish period costumes and cars, and a score that only occasionally tells viewers how to feel. This alluring film ends with a swoon-inducing moment that may feel contrived, but viewers who appreciate these twin stories of queer longing in an era of oppression won’t mind at all.
