Toronto Film Festival 2024 Reviews: “On Swift Horses” & “Hard Truths”

• Tweet
• Email

• Tweet
• Email

ON SWIFT HORSES (no distrib):  In the years after World War II, Muriel (Daisy Edgar-Jones) marries Lee (Will Poulter), who’s hardworking and in love with her but not exciting, and they move into the Kansas house she inherited from her family.  First she hears about, then she finally meets Lee’s brother Julius (Jacob Elordi), who’s dashing and irresponsible.  Aha, we think:  we know where this is going.  But that’s not the direction On Swift Horses takes.  Based by Bryce Kass on a novel by Shannon Pufahl, and directed by Daniel Minahan, the film depicts an immediate bond between Muriel and her brother-in-law, but not in the way we expect.  What they recognize in each other are hidden urges, as Julius is closeted and Muriel will realize that she’s attracted to women.  With each of them unable to openly be their true selves, they sublimate their feelings in other risky behavior, especially gambling.  After Muriel and Lee move to San Diego, she works at a cafe frequented by racetrack insiders, and eavesdrops on their gossip, using it to generate a nest egg even as she’s recognizing her feelings for a neighbor (Sasha Calle).  Julius moves to Las Vegas, where he takes a job spotting blackjack cheats and starts a relationship with Henry (Diego Calva), who pushes him to use their knowledge about cheating methods to beat the casinos.  On Swift Horses takes an unusual approach to queer history, tinged with noir and sharp turns of plot.  Edgar-Jones, who’s been paying her Hollywood dues with hits like Where the Crawdads Sing and Twisters, returns to the quiet intensity of her work in Normal People, while Elordi does some of his most impressive work to date.  Luc Montpelier’s photography and Erin Magill’s production design are exemplary.  Minahan’s direction may at times be self-consciously poetic, but he has control over the story’s tones and the acting.  An intelligent, solid indie drama.

HARD TRUTHS (Bleecker Street – Oct. 5):  In Mike Leigh’s new film, Pansy (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) is intended to be nearly unbearable, and she very much is.  Pansy is wretched, narcissistic and depressed, and she takes it out on absolutely everyone, from her sad-sack husband Curtley (David Webber) and barely-articulate son Moses (Tuwaine Barrett), to her bubbly sister Chantal (Michele Austin) and practically every clerk, salesperson and passerby who crosses her path.  Jean-Baptiste provides a brilliant portrait of such a furious, bitter, belittling woman, and eventually Leigh provides some explanation for why she’s the way she is.  Nevertheless, just as one may wonder why people voluntarily remain in Pansy’s life, it’s fair for an audience to consider how much time we want to spend with her.  For all the compassion Leigh brings to the story, and all the detail of Jean-Baptiste’s characterization, Hard Truths becomes something of an endurance test.  There isn’t much in the way of a plot, so the film becomes a procession of Pansy’s tirades and the various ways those who know her try to cope with them, capped by an open-ended conclusion.  It’s easier to respect Hard Truths than to enjoy the experience of watching it.