On Swift Horses
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: April 25, 2025 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
63
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 26 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
14
Negative:
0
Watch Now
Stream On
Stream On

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
IndieWireChristian ZilkoSep 14, 2024
On Swift Horses is a stunning tableau of almost-romances, weaving together ephemeral moments of magic with the pain that inevitably follows when the universe takes them away. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterJourdain SearlesSep 14, 2024
On Swift Horses is about the shapes love can take, the varied lives we live and the many different ways one can make a home. It’s beautiful, heartbreaking and demands to be seen on the biggest screen possible. Here’s hoping it brings the romantic epic back into fashion. Read full review
83
Original-CinLiam LaceyApr 25, 2025
On Swift Horses is best admired as a visual tone poem to the era, not so much a realistic story. The conceit of casting characters who seem too splendid for their surroundings evokes the movie melodramas of the fifties, the time of Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift. Read full review
80
Screen DailyRobert DanielsSep 14, 2024
With style, strong performances and emotive use of mis-en-scene, On Swift Horses is a flawed but intense critique of Americana. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoApr 25, 2025
Told in a style that could be called old-fashioned due to its lack of cynicism in an era when heartfelt melodrama is often mocked more than celebrated, it’s fair to call this engaging drama a throwback, a movie that wants to sweep you away on the back of its passion and heartbreak. Read full review
75
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldApr 23, 2025
Nobody in this movie would be out of place in a glamorous old-Hollywood drama, which is kind of what On Swift Horses is trying to be — and, most of the time, coming pretty close. Read full review
70
TheWrapWilliam BibbianiApr 30, 2025
Minahan has made a film about embracing life when you’re not legally allowed to, and he refuses to make watching it a misery, no matter how rough it gets. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicDina KaurApr 22, 2025
Despite its slow pace at times, the film builds on multiple themes such as flying too close to the sun, self-discovery and a tinge of romance. Read full review
70
LooperReuben BaronApr 2, 2025
On Swift Horses finally achieves the emotional resonance it's been aiming for just a few minutes before the credits. Read full review
70
Screen RantGraeme GuttmannSep 14, 2024
Though the script fails to follow through on some of its promises, the subtext is there and Elordi, Edgar-Jones, and the rest of the cast give quietly devastating performances as their dreams manifest in ways they cannot predict. Read full review
67
The Film StageChristopher SchobertSep 14, 2024
Minahan and Klass struggle to balance the film’s many characters and disparate storylines, but at the same time they’ve created a film populated by people who are wildly compelling. Read full review
63
Washington PostTy BurrApr 24, 2025
As a director, Minahan knows his way around a track, but on the evidence of this film, he’s not yet ready to run wild. Read full review
60
EmpireSophie ButcherSep 12, 2025
The filmmaking is a tad formulaic, but On Swift Horses is a beautifully shot piece of period escapism with a mesmerising central performance from Daisy Edgar-Jones. Read full review
60
The TelegraphTim RobeySep 4, 2025
It’s a film that feels emotionally half-fulfilled, never quite grabbing or devastating in the way you’d hope. Read full review
60
The TimesKevin MaherSep 4, 2025
It’s not going to rock everyone’s world and neither is it a patch on Carol. But it’s competent, sometimes clever, film-making with ideas and lots of heart. Read full review
60
The GuardianMike McCahillSep 3, 2025
Kass and Minahan combine old and new while rubbing suggestively against the grain: the familiar pleasures of watching charismatic young actors meet the novelty of seeing them plugged into situations our period dramas have historically overlooked. Read full review
60
Little White LiesPatrick SproullAug 28, 2025
The charismatic performances by Elordi and Edgar-Jones ensure that On Swift Horses is never less than watchable. They are both doing terrific work here, taking generous bites into material that does not match their commitment. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleApr 25, 2025
Just when the central characters’ fascinating messiness achieves peak interest, you realize this movie’s earnest commercial shimmer is never going to segue into a denser, darker poetry. Read full review
60
The New York TimesAlissa WilkinsonApr 24, 2025
It doesn’t always work, but you won’t mind that much, because it’s so beautiful to look at. Read full review
60
VarietyPeter DebrugeMar 27, 2025
There’s a current of tragedy running beneath all of the couples here, as the characters create obstacles to their own happiness. It can feel a bit diagrammatic, as if the novelist were setting up impossible loves and then watching them fail. But there’s hope too, and however contrived the last scene may feel, there’s poetry in watching someone betting their future on yet another horse. Read full review
60
ColliderTania HussainSep 14, 2024
Even with striking visuals that offer compelling depth and beauty to Minahan’s overall look, the film’s inability to keep a consistent pace and tone, or even establish its primary focus through its leads undercuts its biggest, most poignant messages. Read full review
60
BBCCaryn JamesSep 14, 2024
On Swift Horses isn't a disaster, but given its stars and potential, it is a disappointment. Read full review
50
The Associated PressMark KennedyApr 23, 2025
On Swift Horses belongs in the same category as other hushed ’50s-set same-sex romances, like Todd Haynes’ “Carol” or Luca Guadagnino’s “Queer.” But this adaptation hasn’t made the leap to the screen very well. Sometimes swift horses stumble. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonApr 21, 2025
In some respects, this feels like two movies, and the filmmakers couldn’t decide which story should be the focus. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineRocco T. ThompsonApr 18, 2025
It’s difficult to shake that there’s something tragic blaring from the sidelines that the film’s wistful, pitch-perfect Hollywood ending can’t acknowledge. Read full review
42
The PlaylistGregory EllwoodSep 14, 2024
If there is any saving grace to “Horses,” beyond Luc Montpellier‘s often painterly cinematography and Jeriana San Juan‘s superb costume design, is its commitment to chronicling this era of hidden queer love. Read full review
More From This Movie

63 Critic Reviews

tbd User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL