Summary
Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1is a sprawling epic, and it has a fittingly large number of characters and stories, but not all of its storylines are equally interesting.The massive cast ofHorizonfeatures characters who take on all sorts of roles, from wagon train leaders to outlaws and normal settlers. Having such a deep cast of talented actors allowsHorizonto explore the many different facets of the Old West and Westward Expansion, but it also splits the movie’s focus. Though it’s a lengthy epic -Horizon Chapter 1is over three hours long- not all of its storylines get the same attention.
Horizonwas able to include so many stories because it didn’t have to wrap them all up in one film.Kevin Costner has fourHorizonmovies planned, and the second one has already been filmed. That release plan letsHorizonbe a true epic, but it’s also caused some problems.Horizon Chapter 1did very poorly at the box office, andHorizon Chapter 2was delayedbecause of that. Costner’s choice to tell so many stories at the same time may have jeopardized the saga, and it kept some ofHorizon Chapter 1’s stories from being as interesting as they could have been.
Every Death In Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1 Explained
Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 kills several significant characters as part of the main storylines. Here’s who dies, who kills them, and why.
7The Wagon Train
Matthew Van Weyden & Juliette Chesney Are Interesting, But The Wagon Train Doesn’t Offer Much Else
The least compelling storyline so far inHorizonis the wagon train.While there are some good characters in the wagon train so far - Luke Wilson’s Matthew Van Weyden and Ella Hunt’s Juliette Chesney both stand out - there’s not much else to make their story compelling so far. Will Patton’s Owen Kittredge and his daughters seem like they might soon become interesting - and much more important, given their last names - but they don’t get much of a role inHorizon Chapter 1beyond carrying water. The wagon train spends more time worrying about interesting things that might happen than it does actually being interesting.
The wagon train spends more time worrying about interesting things that might happen than it does actually being interesting.
The main reason the wagon train is so uninteresting is that it suffers the most fromHorizon’s greatest mistake: it feels like the first chapter of a story. With little more than introductions in the way of character development, the characters of the wagon train simply aren’t very interesting or compelling. On top of that, very little actually happens in the wagon train scenes.What little does happen, like Juliette’s feud with Van Weyden and her complaint about being watched while washing, feels like nothing more than setup. The result is that the wagon train feels more like filler than anything truly interesting.
6Pionsenay, Tuayeseh, & The Apache Tribe
Pionsenay & Tuayeseh Set Up Some Interesting Questions But Feel Underutilized
The Apache tribe has a fairly interesting premise, but it too falls flat. The bulk of the Apache subplot focuses on Owen Crow Shoe’s Pionsenay butting heads with Gregory Cruz’s Tuayeseh about how to handle the ever-encroaching wave of settlers coming onto their land.Their differing opinions present a few interesting moral and philosophical questions the subsequentHorizonfilms will likely chew on, but it falls victim to the same problem of the wagon train: there’s simply not enough there. The Apache tribe introduced these great themes and questions, yetHorizon Chapter 1didn’t capitalize on them at all, instead saving them for the sequels.
Pionsenay’s story in particular has a few glaring problems, in addition to its short length.Horizon’s introduction to Pionsenay, before even revealing his name, involves showing him and his followers brutally raiding and massacring the Horizon settlers.It then feels like Pionsenay’s speech to Tuayeseh is nothing more than an afterthought: he’s already decided to be more aggressive, and there’s very little suspense because of that. The scene also serves as both of the characters' proper introductions, meaning the audience doesn’t yet have knowledge of their relationship, or any reason to care about Pionsenay splitting the tribe.
Where To Watch Horizon: An American Saga - Showtimes & Streaming Status
Kevin Costner’s western epic is here, and there are options for where to watch Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 in theaters or on streaming.
While Pionsenay and Tuayeseh’s storyline isn’t the most interesting in the film, it does add quite a bit toHorizon. It was important forHorizonto focus on the diverse members of the Apache tribe and their differing opinions, especially since a huge part of the rest of the story frames them as villains.If it hadn’t given such focus to the Apache tribe members,Horizoncould have easily become just another bad portrayal of a historically misrepresented people. Within the confines ofHorizon’s story, though, Pionsenay and Tuayeseh offer a great way to parallel another major group: the settlers of Horizon.
5The Horizon Raid Survivors
In many ways, the survivors of the raid on Horizon are the exact opposite of the Apache tribe. They were taking land that wasn’t theirs, they received much more focus than the Apache tribe, andHorizonalready positioned them as a much darker version of Pionsenay’s story.Though they’re so similar, the Horizon survivors are a bit more interesting inHorizon Chapter 1than the Apache tribe members, but that’s mainly a result of their longer screen time. With that longer screen time,Horizonwas able to give the survivors much more characterization and justification for their actions.
The survivors could have been a great way to giveHorizonsome moral ambiguity, but they’re too villainous to actually accomplish that.
While the survivors are one of the more prominent storylines inHorizon, they’re still not the most interesting.Many of the group’s individual characters are forgettable, and they don’t have much in the way of character development or stakes. The survivors can also be quite frustrating, given how often they make the wrong decision. They just seemed to be so overtly wrong that they lost a lot of the sympathy the raid gave them bythe end ofHorizon Chapter 1. The survivors could have been a great way to giveHorizonsome moral ambiguity, but they’re too villainous to actually accomplish that.
4The U.S. Army
Houghton & Riordan Offer Introspection & Intriguing Dramatic Irony
While the Horizon survivors failed to give the film its moral ambiguity, the U.S. Army picked up all that slack.Danny Huston’s Colonel Houghton, Sam Worthington’s Trent Gephart, and Michael Rooker’s Sergeant Major Riordan all work tremendously well together to portray the contradictory roles of Army officers who know better than the people they’re protecting. That’s the most interesting part of the U.S. Army’s storyline: they’re wise enough to know that death and devastation is on the horizon for both the settlers and the Apaches, yet they’re too wise to attempt to stop it. It’s tragically ironic, and it makes for a very interesting subplot.
In many ways, the Army storyline has everything going for it, and it’s easily one ofHorizon’s most interesting setups. The main thing holding it back is, yet again, that it’s little more than setup.The scenes showing Houghton and Riordan’s pontificating about the nature of youth and the inevitability of Westward expansion feel like tremendous foreshadowing, yetHorizonnever gets to the events they’re setting up. Gephart gets to have some meaty scenes inHorizon Chapter 1, but those scenes are really more focused on another set of characters: Frances and Elizabeth Kittredge.
3Frances & Elizabeth Kittredge
The Kittredges Are The Best Of Horizon’s Less Compelling Storylines
One of the reasons Frances and Elizabeth Kittredge’s storyline is so interesting is because it seems to use the most compelling parts of a few different stories without borrowing their drawbacks. The Kittredges' story essentially succeeds at everything the Horizon survivors' storyline failed at. Elizabeth and Frances had the same tragic setup during the raid on Horizon, yet they don’t make so many mistakes that they waste their sympathy like the survivors did.Horizonalso gave them a similarly large focus as the survivors got, yet Frances and Elizabeth made themselves much more memorable and compelling than any of the other survivors.
How Much Money Kevin Costner Invested In The Horizon Movies (So Far)
It’s well known that Kevin Costner has put his own money into making Horizon: An American Saga a reality, but exactly how much has he put into them?
Another, slightly less important, reason the Kittredges are so interesting is because they seem to be the knot that tiesHorizon’s various characters together.Everything in the saga centers around the titular settlement of Horizon, but Frances and Elizabeth give the film the heart it needs to be emotionally engaging. Through the loss of the rest of their family, their respective relationships with Gephart, and their almost certain reunion with their relatives on the wagon train, much of the rest ofHorizondepends on the Kittredges. Frances and Elizabeth are essentially the saga’s connective tissue, and because of them,Horizonas a whole is made more interesting.
2Hayes Ellison & Marigold
Horizon Clearly Gave The Bulk Of Its Focus To A Fairly Interesting Relationship
They may not have as much heart as Frances and Elizabeth Kitteredge, but Kevin Costner’s Hayes Ellison and Abbey Lee’s Marigold have proven slightly more interesting.Their relationship isn’t as well-defined or relatable as Frances and Elizabeth’s mother-daughter bond, but Hayes and Marigold are a truly intriguing pair. They also suffer fromHorizon’s common problem of only showing the start of its stories, but it doesn’t affect them as much, since the beginning of their story has already proven very interesting. Hayes and Marigold have arguably the best setup inHorizon, so it doesn’t matter that the movie doesn’t show any more than that.
Hayes and Marigold have arguably the best setup in Horizon, so it doesn’t matter that the movie doesn’t show any more than that.
Interestingly, Hayes and Marigold’s story likely even benefits fromHorizon’s inability to give them in-depth characterizations. They’re both very mysterious characters, and the stress of being on the run and caring for a child has let them slowly reveal more about themselves naturally. Additionally, since the audience doesn’t know who these characters are supposed to be yet, some of their more confusing decisions come across as mysteries to be unraveled instead of plot holes to be addressed.The mystery ofHayes' past and Marigold’s decision to leave Samson at the rail camp is precisely why their storyline is so interesting.
How Old Kevin Costner & Abbey Lee Are In Horizon: Age Gap Explained
The first trailer for Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 reveals that Abbey Lee plays Kevin Costner’s love interest in the epic Western film.
1The Sykes Family & Ellen Harvey
The Closest Horizon Gets To A Classic Western Shooter Is Its Most Interesting Storyline
Most of the storylines inHorizonwere held back by the nature of telling the first chapter in a sprawling saga, but the conflict between the Sykes family and “Ellen” Harvey actually benefited.Where other stories felt rushed and incomplete, the Sykes family subplot offered just enough in the way of information to make its mystery interesting without giving too much away. The questionsHorizon Chapter 1left unanswered made the gripe between Ellen and the Sykes even more intriguing, and learning more about their story is one of the most exciting thingsHorizon Chapter 2has to offer.
Another major advantage to the Sykes and Ellen storyline is that it feels most like a classic Western. WhileHorizonhas always aimed to show the many different sides of the mythical Old West, there’s a reason that stories about outlaws and gunslingers have been so popular: they’re fun to watch.Caleb Sykes was responsible for one of the coolest scenes in the movie, when Hayes shot him down, and the other members of the family were just as interesting, if not as explosive. That, coupled with the mystery surrounding what exactly caused Ellen to shoot James, made their storyline by far the most intriguing.
While not all of its stories carry the same weight or appeal,Horizon Chapter 1does serve as a good start to a fascinating, sprawling story. That makes it harder forHorizon Chapter 1to stand on its own, but it also means the rest of the saga can now hit the ground running. Despite the troubles, like the first installments' underwhelming box office performance andHorizon Chapter 2’s delay, it does seem like Costner is personally invested in finishing the story he started. The saga seems more than able to improve uponHorizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1’s various storylines, which is quite exciting.
Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1
Cast
Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 is set in 1859, following families as they settle in territories from Wyoming to Kansas. The narrative centers around a cowboy on the run with a prostitute and a young boy after a deadly confrontation, exploring the challenges of life in the Old West.
