On Swift Horses ****

Starring: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Jacob Elordi, Will Poulter, Diego Calva, Sasha Calle

Director: Daniel Minahan

Country: USA

UK Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics

Last year, Luca Guadagnino’s Queer promised an authentic look at gay life in the 1950s, yet severely underdelivered. Now, the mantle has been passed to Daniel Minahan’s adaptation of Shannon Pufahl’s novel On Swift Horses and it appears the bar has now been set.

Muriel (Edgar-Jones - Normal People, Twisters) is starting a new life in California with her husband (Poulter - The Bear, Midsommar) after his return from the Korean War. But the arrival of his wayward brother, Julius (Elordi - Saltburn, Euphoria), upends all their lives as his spontaneity inspires a yearning within Muriel to fulfil her own desires.

This is not just one, but two Queer love stories rolled into one, as both Muriel and Julius embark on journeys of self-discovery. It is the latter’s whose features most prominently - falling in love with a Vegas croupier (Calva - Babylon, Narcos: Mexico) whom he works alongside - while the former’s affair with a lesbian neighbour (Calle - The Flash) opens her eyes to a world beyond suburban domesticity. Julius’ tragic romance sits at the film’s heart, with palpable chemistry between Elordi and Calva, whose breathless magnetism is underscored by thirsty editing that doesn’t hold back from letting us witness their lust. And it’s this that will surprise most viewers.

If you came to this movie having only consumed its marketing materials, you really wouldn’t have any idea that there’s anything LGBT+ about this film at all. Downplayed and minimised, this has come from a studio with no confidence in a gay film finding a market, despite its cast of rising stars. And that is nothing but a disservice.

Both its leads give excellent performances, however. Edgar-Jones plays Muriel both heartfelt and astute, with her poised elegance masking inner rebellion. Meanwhile Elordi cements his status as sex symbol here, looking like Marlon Brando and James Dean’s lovechild, smouldering with intensity and oozing pure charisma. It’s a shame that Poulter has little to do, but Calvi and Calle are undeniably magnetic too. In fact they all - like everything with this film - are perfectly styled, exquisitely framed and look like an editorial shoot that Tom Ford would be proud of.

It’s not without its issues - the pacing is skewed and its focus sometimes tangential - but there is enough to this film to give it substance. While this is a romance first and foremost, it never loses sight of its context, when being gay was… difficult, to say the least. Its most poignant moment comes in its final scene, when the truth about being gay in the 1950s bleeds into these characters’ reality. And that comes as a welcome gut-punch at the end of a film otherwise focused on its aesthetic.

This might not have the same gravitas as a heavy-weight Queer drama like Carol or Brokeback Mountain, but this period romance hits the same notes and hits them pretty hard. And who doesn’t want to look quite this luscious while doing that?

UK Release: Out now in cinemas, released by Sony Pictures Classics

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