Film

Jacob Elordi’s new queer drama On Swift Horses gets release date

Feb 10
Written by Chantelle Billson

Side by side images of Jacob Elordi wearing a black suit and tie and Diego Calva wearing a black suit and bow tie

Jacob Elordi (L) stars alongside Diego Calva (R) in One Swift Horses. (Getty/Samir Hussein/Jamie McCarthy)

Jacob Elordi’s new queer drama On Swift Horses has been given a release date.

On Swift Horses is set in the 1950s, with Euphoria and Saltburn star Elordi playing Julius, a Korean War veteran turned gambler. It is set to be released in the US on 25 April.

Based on the book by Shannon Pufahl, the film follows married couple Muriel (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and Lee (The Maze Runner and The Bear star Will Poulter). But she pines for his charismatic younger brother Julius.

Despite being apart, Muriel and Julius stay in touch even as he starts a passionate affair with Henry (Narcos: Mexico‘s Diego Calva) whom he meets at a Las Vegas casino.

(L-R) Diego Calva, Jacob Elordi, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Daniel Minahan, Sasha Calle and Will Poulter of 'On Swift Horses' pose in the Getty Images Portrait Studio — The stars of *On Swift Horses* with director Daniel Minahan (in white shoes). (Gareth Cattermole/Getty)

The film is directed by Daniel Minahan, best-known for his work on Game of Thrones, True Blood and Fellow Travelers, with the screenplay from Lizzie writer Bryce Kass. It premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September and created a buzz, in part for its “dream-like” queer sex scenes.

Minahan said he was drawn to the story because it offered “a re-imagining of the American dream, except through a queer lens”, adding: “[Pufahl] made a story about people who were hiding themselves, people who were watching, people who were exploring and trying to find themselves, and they end up connecting.

“It’s not a tragic ending to this story. It ends on a note of hope, and that was important to us.”