As far as ambitious, multi-part cinematic series go, this is a curious position. Horizon: An American Saga is Kevin Costner’s western passion project, which is intended to tell one epic story over four films. While I admired Chapter 1 for a lot of what it aimed to do, despite my issues with it, the film did not perform well at the box office. That led to scrapping the original plan to release Chapter 2 a couple of months later while Chapter 3 was still in production. There’s now a good possibility that thanks to my attendance at the U.S. premiere of Chapter 2 at the 40th Santa Barbara International Film Festival, I may be one of the few who actually gets to see this film in the theater, where it was meant to be seen. That would be a shame. While there may be issues behind the scenes regarding distribution, this second chapter improves upon what has come before it and holds onto my excitement for what’s next with this series.
Picking up where things left off (and yes, this is a movie, meaning there’s no ‘previously on’ recap), Chapter 2 focuses on three main storylines, with a minor subplot or two lurking in the background. Sienna Miller’s Frances Kittredge continues putting her life back together after an Apache raid that led to the death of her husband and son. The wagon train we’ve been following continues to experience drama, primarily focusing on Ella Hunt’s Juliette Chesney having to fend for herself with the odds stacked heavily against her. And finally, Kevin Costner’s Hayes Ellison is still in hiding and takes a job as a head ranch hand, where he can hopefully keep the peace.
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Last time, I felt the editing was the film’s biggest issue, leading to awkward pacing and a poor sense of how to juggle the multiple storylines. This time around, however, while being a Western still means it’s not the snappiest film, I have much stronger regard for the editing. Thanks to already having so much of the setup out of the way, I appreciated how Chapter 2 moved in and out of the various storylines. The choices felt more organic in the way they would find connecting thematic bridges between characters, and I was constantly riveted by what was taking place on screen.
Being a piece of a much larger hole, I was also pleased with our focus and how this film begins and ends. It’s not exactly a standalone work, but while the first film ended rather abruptly, I was pleased with how this journey felt like it had a proper opening and closing, delivering enough context to keep us aware of what’s going on in this chapter, and building effectively toward the next entry. But that’s getting ahead of myself.
As noted, there are basically only three main storylines, and each has its highlights. This film may have fewer action scenes and suspenseful moments than Chapter 1. Still, I appreciated the character interactions and the level of give-and-take when considering the individual arcs and the payoffs to certain storylines. If that means the Western tropes feel even more at a minimum than last time for the sake of grounding these films in a plausible reality, I say so be it if that allows for a series of films reckoning with the perception of a specific time period, and doing what’s possible to de-glamorize it on a vast canvas.
In that regard, this chapter most notably has plenty to say about the treatment of women during this time. Now, this film is no Johnny Guitar or The Furies in terms of how those films utilize the level of charisma of their stars to help with the ambitious-for-their-day ideas presented. Instead, the harsh and cynical nature seen the first time around returns with even more sternness when dealing with Juliette’s dilemma. Frances also has her struggles that stem from accepting loss and coming into her own as a frontier woman, but it’s downright depressing and often quite frustrating to witness the events that befall Juliette.
The idea, of course, is to speak to what this life can be like and how people can lie, cheat, steal, and even kill to take advantage. That this reflects societies both past and present should go without saying. Still, given the specific period we are in, it becomes rough to be forced as an audience to sit back and let things play out as they do, with hopes of conventional Western plotting to kick in and help save the day. Knowing there are more chapters to come helps play into understanding that not everything can be resolved neatly. Yet, this movie does flirt a little too hard with providing levels of satisfaction that can feel a step out of balance due to certain circumstances.
Meanwhile, Costner still has plenty of presence in his portion of the story, which affords him perhaps more screentime, even if there’s ultimately less payoff compared to the first film’s best scene (the long walk up a hill that leads to a standoff). This is the kind of character who is both the ultimate badass and a guy with a heart of gold. I can’t say it’s the deepest of characterizations (he’s no William Munny), but I can go along with him acting on what’s right on principle with actions driven by his emotions. There’s also the little stuff Costner adds that speaks to the detail concerning the film as a whole, such as watching his character quietly wrap his fingers after punching a guy while holding a lengthy dialogue sequence. It’s still just such a shame that Costner has saddled himself with the worst cowboy hat a main character in a Western has worn for non-comedic purposes.
Looking at the other characters presented, while this film may lose out on more effective work from some of the previous chapter’s performers, such as Sam Worthington, Danny Huston, Luke Wilson, and Jena Malone, it gains from the expanded presence of Hunt, along with Will Patton as a senior member of the wagon train, and Isabelle Fuhrman as one of his daughters, who gets one of the more complex arcs of the film. The continued tease of Giovanni Ribisi as a mastermind behind The added presence of Glynn Turman, among others, also works in filling out this world, though there is one key distraction.
Without trying to step on ability, it does feel notable in watching a more than decently budgeted Western that Costner, Miller, Wilson, Patton, Huston, and others feel like big screen actors, while other supporting characters don’t have the same kind of cinematic authority. Along with the film notably spending more time in specific areas (despite the fantastic locations we get to see), there’s a sort of limited feel to the production that speaks to it amounting to what is essentially a very costly independent film project. I suppose one can admire the scrapiness, but when you have a Western that feels so pristine in every other way, including a terrific melody-filled score by John Debney, it’s a bit trying to feel pulled out now and again for specific reasons.
Still, make no mistake that Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2 feels like a real improvement over the first. I am drawn in with these characters and want to see not only where this journey takes them but what it will mean when various storylines converge down the line. This saga is supposed to take place over the course of 15 years, meaning there are still many meaningful events waiting to happen, and given where we leave these characters, I can only hope the nontraditional distribution method doesn’t lead to a stall out in getting to fully tell this tale. Whatever the case, I hope Chapter 2 gets distributed in some manner soon, as there’s a very solid Western to get caught up with, and the horizon is only stretching further as a result.
***
Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2 has no current release date, but hopefully, it will arrive in 2025.
The 40th Santa Barbara International Film Festival will be taking place from February 4 to February 15, 2025.
