Muriel, a waitress in 1950s America, seems to be the quintessential June Cleaver. She's got a loving husband, a suburban house with a white picket fence in California and nice outfits. But not everything is as it seems, like her secret gambling. And her eye for a neighbor.
“On Swift Horses,” based on Shannon Pufahl’s novel of the same name and adapted by Bryce Kass, is all about how a dominant culture can suppress natural impulses. More specifically, it's a queer tale set against the post-Korean War status quo.
“We are all just a hair’s breadth from losing everything, all the time,” Muriel is told by a woman also hiding her truth in plain sight.
But despite a brilliant performance by Daisy Edgar-Jones, “On Swift Horses” gets lost in a meandering plot and clunky symbols, including olives, atomic bomb tests, a tiny gun and a horse, the universal sign of the unbridled self that is just sort of dumped here. The execution is often slack and then veers into melodrama in the last 15 minutes. And there's a weird noir vibe that doesn't really work.
That's a shame because a film dealing with hidden homosexuality is very relevant as some forces seem to seek to return America to the '50s — two genders, no queer accommodation, definitely nothing trans.
The neat and tidy world of Edgar-Jones' Muriel becomes unmoored by the emergence of Julius, her husband's brother. Julius — played by a forever-smoldering Jacob Elordi with an ever-present cigarette, which goes from acting prop to crutch — brings an anarchic energy. He's a cad, but a lovable one.
He recognizes something in Muriel — a wistfulness, a restlessness. “I think you see all through all of it,” he tells her. She soon overhears horse racing tips at work and uses them to earn thousands, hiding the winnings from her husband. She also seems to connect in a flirtatious way with neighbor Sandra (Sasha Calle, excellent).
Meanwhile, Julius has ended up in Las Vegas, falling in love with a co-worker, played by a soulful Diego Calva. They're employed by a casino to watch over gamblers and make sure there's no cheating. They are basically pairs of eyes removed from the world, watching from a perch above the action.
The Julius storyline — the push and pull of whether these two closeted men should be outlaws or live in the system — yanks focus from Muriel's storyline. Gambling is used as a metaphor for being queer at a time when it was dangerous, but it rarely lands.
Director Daniel Minahan and the cast concentrate on small coded gestures — a glance, a lingering touch, a matchbook passed along — to indicate desires, but they are undone by massive symbols, like that silly horse.
One moment sticks out that has no dialogue at all: a powerful scene where Muriel's husband unexpectedly finds his wife outside the neighbor's house and they share a silent ride home. His mind is turning just as the wheels do.
Edgar-Jones shows equal parts vulnerability and steeliness, superb at communicating what her slippery character is really feeling even as she blends in on the outside. Heartbreakingly, she turns to her husband (Will Poulter, underwritten) at one point and asks: “Did you ever want this?”
“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.
“On Swift Horses,” a Sony Pictures Classic release, is rated R for sexual content, nudity and some language. Running time: 119 minutes. Two stars out of four.
Daisy Edgar-Jones and Diego Calva attend a special screening of "On Swift Horses", hosted by Sony Pictures Classics and The Cinema Society, at Regal Essex Crossing on Thursday, April 17, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
Diego Calva attends a special screening of "On Swift Horses", hosted by Sony Pictures Classics and The Cinema Society, at Regal Essex Crossing on Thursday, April 17, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
Daniel Minahan and Daisy Edgar-Jones attend a special screening of "On Swift Horses", hosted by Sony Pictures Classics and The Cinema Society, at Regal Essex Crossing on Thursday, April 17, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
SURIN, Thailand (AP) — Fighting raged Saturday morning along the border of Thailand and Cambodia, even after U.S. President Donald Trump, acting as a mediator, declared that he had won agreement from both countries for a new ceasefire.
Thai officials said they did not agree to a ceasefire. Cambodia has not commented directly on Trump’s claim, but its defense ministry said Thai jets carried out airstrikes Saturday morning.
Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said Saturday that some of Trump's remarks didn't “reflect an accurate understanding of the situation.”
He said Trump’s characterization of a land mine explosion that wounded Thai soldiers as a “roadside accident” was inaccurate, and did not reflect Thailand's position that it was a deliberate act of aggression.
Sihasak said that Trump’s willingness to credit what may be “information from sources that deliberately distorted the facts” instead of believing Thailand hurt the feelings of the Thai people “because we consider ourselves — we are proud, in fact — to be the oldest treaty ally of the United States in the region.”
The latest large-scale fighting was set off by a skirmish on Dec. 7 that wounded two Thai soldiers and derailed a ceasefire promoted by Trump that ended five days of earlier combat in July over longstanding territorial disputes.
The July ceasefire was brokered by Malaysia and pushed through by pressure from Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges unless Thailand and Cambodia agreed. It was formalized in more detail in October at a regional meeting in Malaysia that Trump attended.
More than two dozen people on both sides of the border have officially been reported killed in this past week’s fighting, while more than half a million have been displaced.
The Thai military acknowledged 15 of its troops died during the fighting, and estimated earlier this week that there have been 165 fatalities among Cambodian soldiers. Cambodia has not announced military casualties, but has said at least 11 civilians have been killed and more than six dozen wounded.
Trump, after speaking to Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, announced on Friday an agreement to restart the ceasefire.
“They have agreed to CEASE all shooting effective this evening, and go back to the original Peace Accord made with me, and them, with the help of the Great Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim,” Trump wrote in his Truth Social post.
Trump’s claim came after midnight in Bangkok. Thai Prime Minister Anutin had, after his call with Trump, said he had explained Thailand’s reasons for fighting and said peace would depend on Cambodia ceasing its attacks first.
The Thai foreign ministry later explicitly disputed Trump’s claim that a ceasefire had been reached. Anutin's busy day on Friday included dissolving Parliament, so new elections could be held early next year.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, in comments posted early Saturday morning, also made no mention of a ceasefire.
Hun Manet said he held phone conversations on Friday night with Trump, and a night earlier with Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, and thanked both “for their continuous efforts to achieve a long-lasting peace between Cambodia and Thailand.”
“Cambodia is ready to cooperate in any way that is needed," Hun Manet wrote.
Anwar later posted on social media that he was urging the two sides to implement a ceasefire on Saturday night. Cambodia's prime minister, also posting online, endorsed the initiative, which included having Malaysia and the United States help monitor it. However, Thai Prime Minister Anutin denied that his country was even in negotiations over the proposal.
Thailand has been carrying out airstrikes on what it says are strictly military targets, while Cambodia has been firing thousands of medium-range BM-21 rockets that have caused havoc but relatively few casualties.
BM-21 rocket launchers can fire up to 40 rockets at a time with a range of 30-40 kilometers (19-25 miles). These rockets cannot be precisely targeted and have landed largely in areas from where most people have already been evacuated.
However, the Thai army announced Saturday that BM-21 rockets had hit a civilian area in Sisaket province, seriously injuring two civilians who had heard warning sirens and had been running toward a bunker for safety.
Thailand's navy was also reported by both sides' militaries to have joined the fighting on Saturday morning, with a warship in the Gulf of Thailand shelling Cambodia's southwestern province of Koh Kong. Each side said the other opened fire first.
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Peck reported from Bangkok. Sopheng Cheang in Serei Saophoan, Cambodia, and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.
A man sits in a tent as he takes refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing home following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
An evacuee cooks soup as she takes refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing home following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
An evacuee tastes soup as she takes refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing from home following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Evacuees cook food as they take refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing homes following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Children raise their hands while receiving donation from charity as they take refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing homes following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Evacuees wait to receive donation from local charity as they take refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing homes following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Village security volunteers and resident run into shelter while the blasts sounded too close in Buriram province, Thailand, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025, following renewed border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
