The Big Picture

Kevin Costner’s
Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1
is a scattered start to this series.
The film fails to stand on its own, culminating in the equivalent of an extended trailer of the next film.
It ends with no resolution or meaningful change with the characters, feeling like one long prologue for future installments.

Credit where credit is due, Kevin Costner has made what is essentially a three-hour prologue into something that is occasionally moderately entertaining. However, just as often, Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 woefully wanders every which way. Some bits can be intriguing in isolation, both lightly complicating and reveling in the mythos of classic Westerns, though the result as a whole is simply far too scattered to hold together. For every moment where you get a brief visual reference to something like The Searchers, the rest proves to be much more of a nondescript slog. Just when you think you’re getting to know something about a collection of characters, let alone one, we’ll shift away to another setting and place to begin the process. Costner himself doesn’t show up until about an hour in and his introduction isn’t the last the film throws in. A lot is going on all at once, but little of it coheres into anything substantive, let alone actually memorable or meaningful.

Horizon: An American Saga Chronicles a multi-faceted, 15-year span of pre-and post-Civil War expansion and settlement of the American west.Release Date June 28, 2024 Main Genre Western Writers Jon Baird

Much of this is understandable, as this is the first of multiple films Costner is planning to make, but an opening film should still be able to somewhat stand on its own. For all the criticism that was given to recent films like Dune: Part One or Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse for telling only half of their story, those look like fully told masterworks compared to this. It feels like we’re watching an overly long episode of a television pilot which is funny as Costner reportedly couldn’t return to the series Yellowstone as he was working on this project. There is very little thematically or narratively connecting characters, making it feel like more of an anthology that’s been haphazardly stitched together. This may be merely the start of a bold new future for epic Westerns, but there is still a long way to go before that can become a reality. After this start, it’s hard to tell whether it will make it there. This will not be remembered as a new Dances with Wolves or even Open Range for Costner. Those films were successful because of the basics as they created well-written characters and carved out a unique place in the genre. This proves indiscernible from any bargain bin Western. It’s frequently derivative, completely unmemorable, and with an utter lack of any new ideas.

What Is ‘Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1’ About?

Set in 1859, the film is all about providing initial snapshots of a smattering of characters all either trying to make a go of it out west or, briefly, the Indigenous people already there. This is something that represents one of the central conflicts, with fights between the two groups occurring throughout. It is also where Costner seems to be attempting not to fall into tropes. At least initially, he and co-writer Jon Baird try to explore the interiority of some of the Indigenous characters as well as the differences in perspective they have on their collective future. Unfortunately, while this too could be set up for something more thoughtful in the next films, this soon fades entirely into the background.

Instead, we see the world through the eyes of a couple of key characters. There is Frances, played by Sienna Miller, who is trying to make a new life with her daughter after her husband and son were killed just as she forms a new connection with First Lt. Trent Gephardt, played by Sam Worthington, while the American Civil War looms. Elsewhere, the loner Hayes Ellison (Costner) ends up stumbling into a familial conflict that will send him on the run with Marigola, played by Abbey Lee, with yet another kid in tow. Okay, maybe not on the run, but on a slow trot to nowhere.

Related How Historically Accurate Is ‘Dances with Wolves’? Kevin Costner is known as a Western hero, but is his most notable addition historically accurate?

There are a whole lot more people in the ensemble cast, such as Will Patton of the great sci-fi Western series Outer Range, who is reduced to essentially just popping up for only a handful of moments as part of a group traveling west, but these are the main tracks the film is taking. Attempting to know where they will end up, even with a bizarre concluding montage that feels like one of the longest “next time on” segments ever made, is difficult as none of them seem to be going anywhere. This could certainly change in the future, but as it stands now, this first film feels like it is going nowhere fast. There are quick shootouts and plenty of horse riding for those who are looking for that in their Westerns. However, what it’s all aiming or riding towards feels much more inconsequential the longer it goes on. Everything moves along at a relatively speedy clip, but competent assembling does not a compelling film make.

Even then, several key characters seem to vanish from the movie, though this feels like a problem that has less to do with editing and more to do with the writing itself. Again, yes, maybe it’s just that we’ll have to wait until future parts to know what happened to them. This first chapter of Horizon: An American Saga is defined by how much it can jam into a single movie and yet still comes up short of making any of it feel meaningful. It isn’t that there has to be some sort of big overarching plot as a film like this could just be about seeing the small details of surviving in this world. Just look at the spectacular Meek’s Cuttoff or First Cow from the great American filmmaker Kelly Reichardt. Each of those were precise films about characters just living in their own parts of a quickly changing world. While this was never going to be as subtle as that, the vast nature of Costner’s production makes everything painfully superficial rather than truly sweeping. Sometimes, bigger isn’t always better.

‘Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1’ Ends Not With a Bang but a Whimper
Image via Warner Bros.

With all this in mind, the conclusion to the film feels like we simply ran out of runway. It isn’t just that there isn’t any resolution or impactful change we’ve seen with the characters as it’s also that there isn’t anything left hanging for the future. It ultimately proves to be a film that feels like Costner’s worst directed effort yet, which is saying something considering how that also includes The Postman. The fact that he has sunk so much money into this to have it not only look more like a television show but also feel like one is disappointing. It’s neither a sweeping epic nor a character study. Whether it becomes that is an open question, but prospects certainly aren’t looking good as Costner has provided himself with a shaky foundation.

There is that aforementioned montage from what is presumably the second movie that has exciting moments (and somehow even more characters we haven’t seen yet) though it doesn’t exactly leave you anywhere particularly interesting emotionally. It all just sort of stops, feeling rather arbitrary and sudden rather than significant. Yet, for a film that plays as one long prologue for what’s next, tacking on what amounts to a glorified trailer is a fitting finale. Not fitting in any exciting way, but more as one final shrug until the next one releases. Consider it less a character riding off into the sunset and more them turning to camera to remind you to tune in next time.

Horizon: An American Saga REVIEWKevin Costner’s Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 does a whole lot of setting up for what’s next without providing much of anything memorable of its own.ProsThe film moves along at a fairly speedy pace, proving to be occasionally moderately entertaining. ConsEverything plays like we are watching an extended prologue for what’s coming next.Several key characters vanish from the movie, leaving us with no connection to them until we’ll presumbably see them in the next film.The ending feels like it runs out of runway, culminating in the longest “tune in next time” montage you’ll ever seen in a movie.

Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 had its World Premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.