‘Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1’ Review: Kevin Costner’s Meandering Western Epic is a Cowboy in Search of a Herd | Cannes

Kevin Costner’s first major artistic undertaking since his career boom courtesy of the blockbuster TV series Yellowstone, Horizon: An American Saga, the opening chapter of which just premiered at the Cannes Film Festival out of competition, finds the actor-writer-director-producer revisiting the American frontier, milieu for his most celebrated work, his 1990 Oscar Best Picture winner and directorial debut Dances With Wolves, and his first feature directorial effort in over 20 years.

Set in 1859, Horizon is a sprawling Western involving a myriad of characters, indigenous tribes, settlements and, even more so, storylines. While it does not lack scope or ambition, none of the storylines emerges as dominant – not even the one involving Costner’s own character, horse trader Hayes Ellison. Nor do the various threads yield an overarching theme. You pick up on certain characters and their trajectories, while others seem almost interchangeable.  

There are simply too many names and faces to keep up with, especially when some of them are properly addressed by others only once or twice. We can’t always tell who are the ones to be processed mentally and filed away in case the film circles back to them later. Some of the ones you make a point of remembering early on may never be seen or heard from again. 

Naturally, there’s a turf war between the Indigenous People, most notably the Apache though others are name dropped, and the newly arrived settlers. The Indigenous are divided themselves on how best to handle the onslaught of migrants setting up camp wherever they please. Among the settlers, there are those just minding their own business and then there are the Sykes, led by young Caleb, bullies who have a menacing presence even though their brutality so far is reserved solely for those who cross them. Romances blossom, sometimes naturally and other times through, um, insistence. 

The film has most certainly arrived at a very interesting time when it’s extremely topical to public discourses on apartheid, colonialism, occupation, migrants, caravans etc. Screenwriters Costner and Jon Baird present voices of reason and dissent among both the Indigenous and the settlers. To that particular end, the film is nuanced and profound. Then again, it seemingly upholds certain American myths, like unfettered gun ownership as gospel. 

When First Lt. Trent Gephardt (Sam Worthington) arrives at a settlement obliterated by Indigenous People, he tells survivors they should have taken the three makeshift graves as a hint and steered clear. He also believes the Indigenous should be left in peace, as most aren’t responsible for attacking settlers. On the opposite side, Taklishim (Tatanka Means) likewise thinks violence is not the solution in deterring the endless waves of migrants. 

Another captivating thread involves a privileged and entitled couple, Juliette (Ella Hunt) and Hugh (Tom Payne), who travel in the caravan with others and prefer to just sit and read all day instead of pitching in on manual labor like everyone else. Juliette even bathes herself with water earmarked for drinking! Their level of obtuseness makes them stand out to the extent that their counterparts, like the hard-working Diamond (Isabelle Fuhrman), barely register. 

It’s also surprising that the racism the film chooses to surface is against Asians. At one juncture, a manager makes a point of announcing Chinese laborers are unwelcome and work is reserved for English speakers only. One of the Chinese does pass on this information to others in Mandarin accurately, even if not subtitled. It’s a shame that none of them are featured or given any sort of agency thus far.  

There are plotlines that go nowhere like that of Frances (Sienna Miller), one of the few survivors of an attack on her settlement, isn’t given much to do for the rest of the film after her harrowing ordeal. She’s there mostly just to look pretty until Lt. Gephardt comes around to clear up gossip about their supposed mutual interest, which no one (in the audience at least) would have ever guessed. 

Of course, then there is Costner’s Hayes, who is just passing through but hounded by a very persistent prostitute, Mary (Abbey Lee). Hayes shoots Sykes (Jamie Campbell Bower) and takes Mary on the run. Then she rapes him. Yes. Really. He says no, but she keeps going. The film normalizes sexual assault against men, but the next day she vanishes and this particular plot is left hanging. Chapter 1 proves capable of sustaining attention and interest, but it doesn’t amount to much; there’s not even a climax in the traditional story structure, just some settlers unsatisfactorily exacting some semblance of revenge against the indigenous. Three hours and several plotlines later, you still get no sense of closure on anything. The film ends on a montage that is essentially an ‘on the next episode’ preview of Chapter 2, highlighting that the broken up film may have worked better as a television limited series. With Costner, who largely self-funded the $100 million for the first two, including mortgaging his ranch, revealing there yet another chapter to come after that (depending on how the first two do) we’ll have to wait until then for the full verdict.

Grade: C+

This review is from the 2024 Cannes Film Festival out of Competition. Warner Bros will release Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1 on June 28, 2024. Chapter 2 will follow on August 14.

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Martin Tsai

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