movie review horizon line

• Action/Adventure
• Children's/Family
• Documentary/Reality
• Amazon Prime Video

More From Decider

New Shows & Movies To Watch This Weekend: 'Bridgerton' Season 3 on...

Jax Taylor Admits His "Delivery Is Awful" In 'The Valley': "That's One Of...

What Happened to Regé-Jean Page? Did the Duke Bomb His Movie Star Career...

'9-1-1's Malcolm-Jamal Warner On Amir And Bobby, Working With Peter...

'Unfrosted' Has Everyone Wondering "What's The Deal With Jerry Seinfeld?"

Chrissy Teigen Stuns John Legend On 'The Drew Barrymore Show' With Reveal...

Brooke Shields Flashed Her ‘Mother of the Bride’ Co-Star Benjamin...

Andy Cohen Reveals Sarah Jessica Parker's Reaction When He Suggested Rosie...

Share this:.

• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
• Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
• Click to copy URL

Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Horizon Line’ on Hulu, a Ridiculous, But Mostly Effective High-Flying B-Thriller

Where to Stream:

• Horizon Line (2020)

Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Birth/Rebirth’ on Hulu, a Frankensteiny Horror-Thriller Rooted in Feminine Dread

Stream it or skip it: ‘monster’ on netflix, a dialogue-free indonesian horror-thriller, stream it or skip it: 'past lies' on hulu, where a group of women's lives are turned upside down by a pact they made in the '90s, stream it or skip it: ‘eileen’ on hulu, a dark, sexy noir-thriller starring anne hathaway and thomasin mckenzie.

Horizon Line — now on Hulu — is one of those no-nonsense B-thrillers with the potential to be a good 90-minute sphincter-clencher of a watch. The premise is well-DUH simple: What if you’re on a tiny prop plane over the ocean and the pilot suddenly dies? Allison Williams (of Get Out fame) and Alexander Dreymon play the two passengers who manage to keep the feces inside their bodies in just such a situation. Acrophobes may just say SKIP IT without even reading any further.

‘HORIZON LINE’ : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Sara (Williams) and Jackson (Dreymon) are having one last beer together. She’s been on the island of Mauritius for a year, and they’ve had a marvelous love affair, but she has a great job waiting for her in London, and his place is right here. She reminds him that she’s not one for tearful farewells, so when he gets up to use the restroom, she sneaks out and flies off and breaks his heart and never calls or anything, just working as a “senior brand strategist,” quite happily, one hopes. YOU DO YOU, SARA.

A year passes. Sara made friends on the island, and one of them has called upon her to stand up in her wedding. So she returns. It’s a small island. She and Jackson are bound to see each other. And he’s bound to be honked off like 100 horns being leaned on all at once. There are a few minor throwaway moments involving a crate of rum, an inflatable lifejacket and someone saying something about altitude sickness that surely won’t come into play later in the movie, not at all, I’d bet my life savings on it, but wouldn’t you know it, this isn’t Vegas, it’s Mauritius. Too bad for me!

Fate/the hand of god/the hands of screenwriters put Sara and Jackson on the same single-prop plane for a trip to a nearby island, where they awkwardly snipe at each other until the pilot (Keith David) faceplants atop the instrument panel. Heart attack. Dead. Thankfully, Sara has been on this plane with the same pilot before and he let her fly a little bit because she had a few lessons a while back. Maybe she can keep the thing in the air, except the faceplanting resulted in a busted GPS and busted autopilot and the compass is about to fly the coop too, although the radio works, but then there’s a storm bearing down and the fuel is getting low and what’s going to thwart their existence next? Hostile Russian MiGs? A UFO? Universal health care? NO SPOILERS, CAP’N!

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Horizon Line inspires Open Water -style thalassophobia and The Aeronauts -ish acrophobia, although I’m pretty sure nobody’s really dangling from an airplane wing like Tom Cruise would.

Performance Worth Watching: This is essentially a two-performance picture, and Dreymon’s blandness leaves Williams to convince us that all this shouting and wordless grunting is at the service of a plausible conceit. She mostly does, thankfully.

Memorable Dialogue: “You know how much I hate goodbyes,” Sara says, speaking way way way way way too soon.

Sex and Skin: One brief moment of kissy-straddly passion, clothed.

Our Take: Will Sara and Jackson figure out how to fly the plane? Will they run out of gas? Will they survive at all? More importantly, will they work out their interpersonal problems before they become shark bait? Priorities, people, priorities. It’s truly amazing what one unfortunate circumstance piled atop another atop another atop another can do to strengthen a relationship when they’re climbing atop a small-engine aircraft at 15,000 feet. Beats couples’ therapy, any day.

Horizon Line is a how-many-fears-can-you-jam-into-one-movie movie, and it’s effective because if it doesn’t render individual challenges all that believable, they’re overshadowed by the mere possibility of a person falling a very long way down to the Indian Ocean to die a horrible death, and wouldn’t it be just no fun at all if that person was you? There’s just so much water and so much space between a person and the water, and we haven’t even gotten to the lightning yet. There’s a moment where Sara unleashes her first “AAAAAAAHHHHHH!” and it’s only just the second act, and we gird ourselves for many “NNNNGGGGHHHHH”s and “AUHHOOOHHHAUUOOOHH”s to come.

It’s not until the halfway point that the movie truly hits its first UH HUH moment that erodes our suspension of disbelief, but by then, the idea of immediate terrible mortality is pretty much burned in, and we’re not sure if we’re laughing to break the tension or laughing at the silliness of individual situations or laughing at Sara and Jackson’s cornball relationship platitudes or laughing at existentiality itself. I don’t know if Horizon Line is particularly good — it’s a bit cheapo, and nobody will give a single rip about Sara and Jackson’s relationship, uh, turbulence. But its raw, white-knuckle elements are believable enough to make it a real sphincter-clencher, especially if heights just ain’t your bag.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Horizon Line maintains tension for the final hour, and that’s about it. Don’t expect more. A modest goal, mostly met.

Will you stream or skip the high-flying B-thriller #HorizonLine on @hulu ? #SIOSI — Decider (@decider) August 30, 2021

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com or follow him on Twitter: @johnserba .

Where to stream Horizon Line

• Stream It Or Skip It

'The Resident's Malcolm-Jamal Warner Says Cast Would Be Open To Returning For A Season 7: "I Think We Would All Jump At The Opportunity"

'Live's Kelly Ripa And Mark Consuelos Learn Why Ankle Socks Are "Canceled" From Gen Z Members Of Their Studio Audience

'Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire' Comes To Digital, But When Will 'Godzilla x Kong' Stream on Max?

‘Bridgerton’ Season 3 Part 1 Climaxes With Penelope and Colin’s Steamy Carriage Ride

Does 'Yellowstone' Return Tonight? 'Yellowstone's Season 5, Part 2 Premiere Date, Streaming Info, And Kevin Costner Updates

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

• Upcoming Movies and TV shows
• Trivia & Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
• Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

Movies / TV

No results found.

• What's the Tomatometer®?
• Login/signup

Movies in theaters

• Opening this week
• Top box office
• Coming soon to theaters
• Certified fresh movies

Movies at home

• Fandango at Home
• Netflix streaming
• Prime Video
• Most popular streaming movies
• What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

• Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Link to Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
• Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Link to Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
• Babes Link to Babes

New TV Tonight

• Evil: Season 4
• Trying: Season 4
• Tires: Season 1
• Fairly OddParents: A New Wish: Season 1
• Stax: Soulsville, U.S.A.: Season 1
• Lolla: The Story of Lollapalooza: Season 1
• Jurassic World: Chaos Theory: Season 1
• Mulligan: Season 2
• The 1% Club: Season 1

Most Popular TV on RT

• Dark Matter: Season 1
• Outer Range: Season 2
• Bodkin: Season 1
• Bridgerton: Season 3
• Fallout: Season 1
• Sugar: Season 1
• The 8 Show: Season 1
• Baby Reindeer: Season 1
• Doctor Who: Season 1
• Best TV Shows
• Most Popular TV
• TV & Streaming News

Certified fresh pick

• Bridgerton: Season 3 Link to Bridgerton: Season 3
• All-Time Lists
• Binge Guide
• Comics on TV
• Five Favorite Films
• Video Interviews
• Weekend Box Office
• Weekly Ketchup
• What to Watch

Cannes Film Festival 2024: Movie Scorecard

30 Most Popular Movies Right Now: What to Watch In Theaters and Streaming

Asian-American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Heritage

What to Watch: In Theaters and On Streaming

Weekend Box Office Results: John Krasinski’s IF Rises to the Top

Hugh Jackman Knew “Deep in His Gut” That He Wanted to Play Wolverine Again

• Trending on RT
• Furiosa First Reviews
• Most Anticipated 2025 Movies
• Cannes Film Festival Preview
• TV Premiere Dates

Horizon Line Reviews

Horizon Line wants to be a tense, white-knuckle ride but is let down by performances of wavering conviction, some awful dialogue and aerial hijinks that are increasingly ridiculous. Still, the more outlandish the film gets, the more fun it is to watch.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Aug 2, 2021

Horizon Line has an interesting concept and starts off well, which peaks the viewers' interest.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 3, 2021

It has a decent premise and is compact and nicely paced, but this trapped-in-a-plane thriller eventually nose-dives due to uninteresting characters, lack of suspense, and too much preposterousness.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 7, 2021

...a mostly unconvincing thriller that's rarely able to wholeheartedly (or satisfactorily) exploit the seemingly foolproof setup...

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Jan 23, 2021

Screenplay doesn't have much of an imagination for this type of disaster movie, dealing with banal relationship issues while halfhearted performances can't sell the urgency of the moment.

Full Review | Original Score: C | Jan 12, 2021

Common Sense Media

Movie & TV reviews for parents

• For Parents
• For Educators
• Our Work and Impact

Or browse by category:

• Get the app
• Movie Reviews
• Best Movie Lists
• Best Movies on Netflix, Disney+, and More

Common Sense Selections for Movies

50 Modern Movies All Kids Should Watch Before They're 12

• Best TV Lists
• Best TV Shows on Netflix, Disney+, and More
• Common Sense Selections for TV
• Video Reviews of TV Shows

Best Kids' Shows on Disney+

Best Kids' TV Shows on Netflix

• Book Reviews
• Best Book Lists
• Common Sense Selections for Books

8 Tips for Getting Kids Hooked on Books

50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They're 12

• Game Reviews
• Best Game Lists

Common Sense Selections for Games

• Video Reviews of Games

Nintendo Switch Games for Family Fun

• Podcast Reviews
• Best Podcast Lists

Common Sense Selections for Podcasts

Parents' Guide to Podcasts

• App Reviews
• Best App Lists

Social Networking for Teens

Gun-Free Action Game Apps

Reviews for AI Apps and Tools

• YouTube Channel Reviews
• YouTube Kids Channels by Topic

Parents' Ultimate Guide to YouTube Kids

YouTube Kids Channels for Gamers

• Preschoolers (2-4)
• Little Kids (5-7)
• Big Kids (8-9)
• Pre-Teens (10-12)
• Teens (13+)
• Screen Time
• Social Media
• Online Safety
• Identity and Community

Explaining the News to Our Kids

• Family Tech Planners
• Digital Skills
• All Articles
• Latino Culture
• Black Voices
• Asian Stories
• Native Narratives
• LGBTQ+ Pride
• Best of Diverse Representation List

Celebrating Black History Month

Movies and TV Shows with Arab Leads

Celebrate Hip-Hop's 50th Anniversary

Horizon line, common sense media reviewers.

Uninspired airborne thriller has language, racy moments.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Characters fight for their lives against difficult

Characters show courage and strength, but they're

Frequent peril/danger/suspense. Character dies of

Passionate kissing/embracing; one character wraps

Fairly frequent language includes one "f--k" and o

Drinking in bar and at a party. Characters with ha

Parents need to know that Horizon Line is a thriller about a couple (Alexander Dreymon and Allison Williams) who are trapped in a plane that's leaking fuel and lost over the ocean. Expect frequent peril, danger, and suspense. A bloody broken arm is also shown, and a character dies of a heart attack, and his…

Positive Messages

Characters fight for their lives against difficult odds, but otherwise there's not much heft here. Raises the issue of cultural appropriation, since it's the story of White people living on an island near Africa.

Positive Role Models

Characters show courage and strength, but they're not very well fleshed-out or interesting.

Violence & Scariness

Frequent peril/danger/suspense. Character dies of a heart attack. Character breaks arm; bloody wound shown. Characters decide to throw a body out of the plane to lighten its load.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Passionate kissing/embracing; one character wraps her legs around another. Couple shown sleeping together, presumably after sex. Topless man, with some below-the-belt skin visible. The naked back of a woman wearing panties is shown.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Fairly frequent language includes one "f--k" and one silently mouthed "f--k," as well as uses of "s--t," "ass," "dumbass," and "stupid," plus "Jesus" and "thank God."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Drinking in bar and at a party. Characters with hangovers played for laughs. Bottles of rum are part of the plot. Pot and cigarette smoking.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Horizon Line is a thriller about a couple ( Alexander Dreymon and Allison Williams ) who are trapped in a plane that's leaking fuel and lost over the ocean. Expect frequent peril, danger, and suspense. A bloody broken arm is also shown, and a character dies of a heart attack, and his body is dumped out of the plane to lighten the load. A couple kisses passionately, and one wraps her legs around the other's body. The next morning, they're shown sleeping together; a man is shirtless (with a glimpse of skin below the waist), and a woman's naked back and panties are seen. Language includes two uses of "f--k" (one spoken, and one silently mouthed), plus "s--t," "ass," "Jesus," "thank God," etc. Characters drink in a bar and at a party, and some are comically hung over. Characters also smoke pot and cigarettes, and a case of rum is part of the story. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say

There aren't any parent reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.

What's the Story?

In HORIZON LINE, loving couple Jackson ( Alexander Dreymon ) and Sara ( Allison Williams ) are living on the beautiful island nation of Mauritius. They reluctantly break up when Sara leaves for a good job in London and Jackson wants to stay. A year later, Sara returns for a friend's wedding. She and Jackson run into each other before the festivities and share an unexpected night together. They next day, they end up on the same single-engine plane, heading to the wedding. When pilot Freddy ( Keith David ) dies of a heart attack over the ocean, the couple must set aside their differences to find land and get down safely. But they're losing fuel, fast.

Is It Any Good?

It has a decent premise and is compact and nicely paced, but this trapped-in-a-plane thriller eventually nose-dives due to uninteresting characters, lack of suspense, and too much preposterousness. This kind of thriller can work great if it finds the right balance between seriousness and silliness -- and if it introduces characters who are worth caring about. Unfortunately, Horizon Line doesn't really do either. We first meet Jackson and Sara sharing a last drink, with Sara explaining that she hates goodbyes. So, to avoid one, she simply gets up and walks out while Jackson is busy.

That's pretty slim character development, and, other than their jobs, we don't really learn much more about the two leads. Then, during the suspense part -- which this 92-minute movie takes a surprising amount of time to get to -- things just never seem as intense or as scary as they could have been. Two sequences in particular -- in which Jackson climbs out to duct-tape a leak in the fuel line and when Sara climbs out to do something even more dangerous -- feel completely ridiculous. The filmmakers didn't seem to realize how silly these moments are or how much fun they could have been if this silliness had been acknowledged. In the end, Horizon Line just sputters out.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about Horizon Line 's violence and peril. How did it make you feel? Is the movie thrilling or shocking? What's the difference?

How is sex depicted? What values are imparted?

How is substance use depicted? Are drinking and smoking glamorized? Are there consequences? Why does that matter?

Do you think the movie is an example of cultural appropriation, given that it's about wo White people on an island near Africa? Why, or why not?

Is Sara a positive role model ? What are her strengths and flaws?

Movie Details

• On DVD or streaming : February 16, 2021
• Cast : Alexander Dreymon , Allison Williams , Keith David
• Director : Mikael Marcimain
• Inclusion Information : Female actors, Black actors
• Studio : STX Entertainment
• Genre : Thriller
• Run time : 92 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : some strong language, bloody injury images, suggestive material/partial nudity, smoking and brief drug use
• Last updated : August 23, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

Our editors recommend.

Shadow in the Cloud

Snowpiercer

Thriller Movies

Excellent adventure movies for family fun.

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

Horizon Line (2020)

• User Reviews

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews

• User Ratings
• External Reviews
• Metacritic Reviews
• Full Cast and Crew
• Release Dates
• Official Sites
• Company Credits
• Filming & Production
• Technical Specs
• Plot Summary
• Plot Keywords
• Parents Guide

Did You Know?

• Crazy Credits
• Alternate Versions
• Connections
• Soundtracks

Photo & Video

• Photo Gallery
• Trailers and Videos

Related Items

• External Sites

Related lists from IMDb users

Recently Viewed

• Environment
• Road to Net Zero
• Art & Design
• Film & TV
• Music & On-stage
• Pop Culture
• Fashion & Beauty
• Home & Garden
• Things to do
• Combat Sports
• Horse Racing
• Beyond the Headlines
• Trending Middle East
• Business Extra
• Culture Bites
• Year of Elections
• Pocketful of Dirhams
• Books of My Life
• Iraq: 20 Years On

'Horizon Line': why the thrilling film is being described as 'Speed' in the air

Tense and extreme survival film 'horizon line' could be just the ticket this year.

Allison Williams and Alexander Dreymon star in 'Horizon Line'. Courtesy of STXfilms

Imagine the scene: you’re in a tiny plane heading for a tropical island wedding. The only passengers are you and your ex-partner. And if that weren’t awkward enough, the pilot suffers a heart attack, mid-air and dies.

That is the premise for Horizon Line , the new nerve-shredding thriller featuring Allison Williams ( Girls ) and Alexander Dreymon ( The Last Kingdom ) trapped in a nightmare scenario.

When we meet at Weston Airport in Dublin, where the extensive special effects are being shot in front of a green screen, Williams, 32, is bubbling with excitement. It's a feeling she's had since she first picked up the script. "Usually life gets in the way – your phone's buzzing and emails coming in or whatever," she says. "That did not happen with this. I just read it continuously. I couldn't put it down."

Williams, who played Marnie in Girls opposite Lena Dunham and featured in Jordan Peele's Oscar-winning horror-­satire Get Out , plays Sara, who has arrived for a friend's wedding in Mauritius. When she bumps into her former boyfriend Jackson (Dreymon), they spend an ill-advised night together and head off the next morning to a tiny island, their shaky transport piloted by cheery local Wyman (Keith David).

What follows is a real-time, white-knuckle thriller, as these two ordinary folk are forced to pool resources. A case of fight or fly, you might say. "The analogy that we've used is, like Speed in the air – but with fewer people," laughs Williams, referring to the 1994 classic starring Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock a bus and a bomb. "From the minute it starts, you're like: 'There's no way they just land uneventfully!'"

Certainly, the survival movie – Robert Redford in a yacht in All Is Lost , Bullock again in a space capsule in Gravity and Mads Mikkelsen in the snowy wastes in Arctic – is one genre that has, well, survived. "I think people love to be put in extreme situations," says Dreymon. " W e live in a time when we're so comfortable. Things just aren't putting us in that degree of danger usually. And I think there's a little part of us, as human animals, that misses that."

Directed by Mikael Marcimain, who made the 2012 thriller Call Girl , Horizon Line comes hot on the heels of 7500 , a Patrick Vollrath film that starred Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a jumbo jet pilot trapped in his cockpit as terrorists take over the cabin. Yet, crucially, Gordon-Levitt's character was trained to fly. "I've always been curious: what would happen in a situation like that with someone who is one of us?" says Williams. "What would we do? How would we all react?"

The film also comes equipped with behind-the-scenes talent with experience in claustrophobic thrillers. It was scripted by Matthew Stuecken and Josh Campbell, who co-wrote 10 Cloverfield Lane – the follow-up to alien-­monster movie Cloverfield . And the cinematographer was Flavio Martinez Labiano, who shot the equally tense The Shallows , in which Blake Lively was stranded in water as a shark circles.

Stoking the tension is the idea that Sara and Jackson are former partners. "I mean, there's no doubt that for Jackson, Sara is the one and his heart got broken so violently when she left," says Dreymon. "It's difficult for him to see her again. And so the beautiful thing is that we start off this plane ride with this huge tension between two people."

It's why Horizon Line , as extreme as it is, feels spot on. " We're taking a very familiar dynamic and making it exponentially more stressful," says Williams. "That was really appealing to me as well. The idea of two people who have a thing together, but haven't been able to make it work. In an ideal world, they'd sit in a restaurant and try to figure out how their dynamic works best, with no extenuating circumstances whatsoever. And in this case, that's not exactly the opportunity they get."

As Dreymon, 37, says , putting two people in such extremes is the ultimate way to explore their depth of feeling for each other. "Living through something like that together forms an extremely strong bond." Though, it should very much come with the classic movie disclaimer: don't try this at home.

Adding a sense of realism, at least in Williams's mind, was the fact she's experienced her own dose of aerial terror. "It was [in] a small plane, I was with my mum and my little brother, and we hit really bad weather. And it was not good. And I've been a bad flyer ever since," she says. It was another reason she took on the film, says Williams.

Her co-star, who grew up in France, Switzerland and the US , is a little different. He's quite the daredevil. "I used to do skydiving when I was younger," he says.

With so little in the way of big-screen blockbusters last year, you might even say Horizon Line 's extreme form of escapism feels like an appealing prospect right now. "If you're thinking, 'I'm really stressed out and I need to relax and go see a movie', I would pick something else, " Williams says, with a laugh.

But if you want to be entertained and see a movie, this, it would seem, is the film for you.

Horizon Line is in cinemas across from January 14

Horizon Line

Where to Watch

Allison Williams (Sara) Alexander Dreymon (Jackson) Keith David (Freddy Wyman) Pearl Mackie (Pascale) Jumayn Hunter (Samuel) Privilege Magezi (Solomon) Stephano Honore (Solomon's Friend) Brendon Pirogue (Solomon's Friend) Christian Louis (Solomon's Friend) Denis Allehany (Solomon's Friend)

Mikael Marcimain

A couple flying on a small plane to attend a tropical island wedding must fight for their lives after their pilot suffers a heart attack.

Advertisement

horizon line (2020)

Horizon line.

From the creators of 10 Cloverfield Lane and The Shallows, HORIZON LINE is a thrilling survival story about two former lovers, Sara (Allison Williams) and Jackson (Alexander Dreymon) who discover new altitudes of fear aboard a single-engine Cessna plane. It was supposed to be a routine and casual 99-minute flight to their friend’s tropical island wedding. But within minutes after takeoff, their pilot suffers a fatal heart attack, leaving Sara and Jackson with no idea where they are, no comms, and no clue how to land the plane. With nothing but miles of ocean and sky in every direction, and a terrifying storm that’s about to envelop them, Sara and Jackson have only one shot – and there’s no going back.

Horizon Line Trailer: Allison Williams Must Fly or Die in Cessna Plane Thriller

STX Films has released the first trailer for Horizon Line, a new thriller from filmmaker Mikael Marcimain.

Horizon Line Movie Explained: What’s Up With the Ending?

Pluses: the plot with the plane, which turns out to be without a pilot; the film keeps the tension Cons: boring backstory of the main characters; the absurdity of what is happening in the air “Horizon Line” / Horizon Line

Genre thriller Directed by Mikael Marsimain Starring Alexander Draymon (Jackson), Allison Williams (Sarra), Keith David (Wyman), Pearl Mackie (Pascal), Jumayn Hunter (Samuel) and others. SF Studios Production AB, Ombra Films, STX Films Release year 2020 IMDb website

Saying goodbye to loved ones is hard for Sarah, so she silently leaves, leaving Jackson for the sake of her career. A year later, Sarah returns to a tropical island, where her friends’ wedding and an awkward reunion with a former lover awaits her. Now they need to escape from personal grievances and get to the celebration, where both are notably late. The heroes board a private jet and stay on schedule until something unforeseen happens. The pilot dies of a heart attack, and Sarah and Jackson find themselves hovering over the ocean with only a rough idea of ​​how to fly the plane and not even knowing how to land.

The performers of the main roles and, in fact, the only central actors could previously be seen in well-known projects. Actress Allison Williams starred in the horror film Get Out and appeared in the series Patrick Melrose, while Alexander Draymon starred in The Last Kingdom and was in the third season of American horror stories” (American Horror Story).

It seems that the thriller “Skyline” may become the most unsuccessful project in the filmography of the actors. It’s not even about a simple plot, without much excitement playing around with a set of outdated clichés. Rather, in the unwillingness to interest the audience in the main characters, who manage to get bored in the first fifteen minutes, generously allocated to get acquainted with the romantic backstory. But for these two you will have to worry about the whole film, especially when they are on the verge of death.

Okay, for the sake of air adventures, you can endure the most boring love story. And then, as it turned out, you will have to come to terms with the fact that the filmmakers completely disregard the laws of physics.

In fairness, it should be said that in Hollywood films many neglect them, but there is a limit to everything. Even in spy action movies, few people can hold on to the wing of a flying plane with one hand for long minutes, not to mention other no less amazing deeds of the main characters.

It seems to be clear that there is not much point in finding fault with thrillers, the plot of which is centered around survival in an emergency. The most important thing in them is the ability of the director to keep the tension, Mikael Marsimain really succeeds. At the cost of improbable feats and tricks.

The heroes, as for the current situation, react extremely calmly to what is happening, freely look out of the plane and quickly move away from pain. Well, from such a number of events, feelings can become dull, and, judging by the version of the filmmakers, the forces can immediately recover.

No matter how bad it is with the realism of events, in the “Horizon Line” something constantly happens to the characters, so there is no time to relax. This is perhaps the only big plus of the film, thanks to which the interest in the finale of the story remains.

At some point, the thriller even gets a new twist that could very well fix the almighty mid-air survivability. But the screenwriters for some reason give up, abruptly breaking off the plot twist they invented.

Skyline is not the most inventive or the most believable survival movie. If you ignore the completely unrealistic events that happen to the main characters, you can be drawn into a series of dangerous situations. They take tense moments in which it is scary to imagine yourself in the place of heroes.

Conclusion:

not the most realistic and not the most thoughtful survival movie.

Related Posts

A Fly On The Wall: Michael Jordan And His Hitler Mustache

Peter Pan Paradox – Jake and the Neverland Pirates: Peter Pan Returns

Han Solo or Luke Skywalker?

Groundhog day movie review, 5 things dog owners are doing wrong on walks, indiana jones & the kingdom of the crystal skull movie review, leave a comment cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Movieman's Guide to the Movies

Horizon line blu-ray review.

Horizon Line (2020)

Genre(s): Suspense Thriller Universal| PG13 – 92 min. – $34.98 | February 16, 2021

Date Published: 02/23/2021 | Author: The Movieman

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post. The opinions I share are my own.

Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers .

  Leave a Reply

Your Comment

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

Name (required)

E-mail (required)

Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, horizon: an american saga - chapter 1.

Now streaming on:

Over sixty years ago, directors Henry Hathaway , John Ford , and George Marshall joined forces to tell the story of America’s push toward the pacific. “How The West Was Won” was a tremendous undertaking. Produced through the three-strip Cinerama process, it featured a deep ensemble of high-wattage stars— James Stewart , Spencer Tracy , John Wayne , Gregory Peck , Henry Fonda , Thelma Ritter , and many, many more—and a canvas that seemingly stretched further than the country itself. Its story is one of (white) perseverance to conquer the land, the people already inhabiting it, and each other. It suffers from its grand scale, competing visions, and regressive politics. And yet, there is a mystique to the very audacity of attempting it. 

For actor Kevin Costner , the film must surely have been at the forefront of his mind while making his ambitious directorial return—“Horizon: An American Saga—Chapter 1,” a three-hour work attempting to rewrite past wrongs while suffering from the same glut that afflicted the film it most recalls. 

“Horizon” isn't trying to subvert the Western, relying on many well-worn tropes. It's also a slow build of intersecting stories that takes so long to get going that Costner doesn’t even appear on screen until an hour in. Instead the first third of “Horizon” is merely a long preamble, a structural decision indicative of a film grinding and failing to prove itself as a standalone feature. The sizzle reel that ends Chapter One, in fact, featuring a library of clips and characters for future movies, does well to tease the kind of high-motoring film we could get but don’t necessarily find here. 

Rather, Chapter One limps into 1859 in San Pedro Valley. A family surveying a plot of land by a creek is gruesomely murdered by Apache warriors who are none too happy to find white outsiders on their land. These deaths, however, do little to deter more from coming to the point of settling in a town guarded by armed citizens. At nightfall, during a town dance, the Apache warriors return: the grisly, vicious massacre—backgrounded by rumbling flames and deafening screams—is frankly edited and bluntly composed to the point that it feels as normalized as breathing. A few of the townsfolk survive. Some decide to hunt down their attackers in a bid for revenge. Others like Lizzie ( Georgia MacPhail ) and her mother Frances ( Sienna Miller ) leave with the Union Army led by Lt. Trent Gephardt ( Sam Worthington ) to the relative safety of a fort. 

Even with the cataclysmic scenes of death, the first hour does little to endear these characters. They’re bespoke people whose connections aren’t immediately clear and only become vaguely obvious toward the picture’s conclusion. Before long, we’re whisked away to the Wyoming Territory and introduced to some brand new characters: Costner finally appears as Hayes Ellison, a horse trader, among many other skills. He befriends local sex worker Marigold (a creaky Abbey Lee ), who is hunted by a band of gunmen because of a secret she’s hiding. The series gains a minor pulse once Costner, featuring a gruff, low voice, appears on screen. But even when he does appear, he feels like an afterthought. As though Costner, the filmmaker and writer (he co-wrote the script with Jon Baird ), knows how tall of a task he has introducing all of his main players. Consequently, the power of his presence is left limited to the film’s detriment.

The final arc, introduced in the final hour, is the high point: It involves a wagon train making its way with an unlikely cast of characters through the Montana territory. Luke Wilson , the head of this traveling group, is the strongest actor in this cast, too. He is more than a shadow of a Western archetype, imbuing Matthew Van Weyden with a groundedness that the series sorely lacks. 

Because as much as Costner tries to play an even hand, attempting to give the Indigenous and settler perspective equal attention, it doesn’t wholly work. Yes, we meet the family of the Apache warriors, but their screen time pales in comparison to their white counterparts. It also doesn’t help that the white women characters are, for the most part, so clean and luminous—nary a speck of dust on them despite their grungy surroundings—that they appear angelic on screen. The score is equally telling: It’s a gorgeous, big, triumphant Old Hollywood score whose most sympathetic notes are reserved for the film’s white characters. Costner does at least include a diverse cast, nodding toward the presence of Black people and Chinese immigrants in the history of the West, tracing across the vast, sumptuously photographed landscape by DP J. Michael Muro.

While “Horizon” teases a kind of conspiracy theory—a mysterious publisher is printing and sending pamphlets promising a land of milk of honey that is only occupied by death—I can’t help but continue to think about the film in relation to “How The West Was Won.” That Western, ultimately, couldn’t overcome the weight of the era it was created in or genre conventions like forced, feeble romances. “Horizon” is arriving in a more “enlightened” time, especially considering the release of Martin Scorsese ’s “Killer of the Flower Moon” and other Indigenous-made works, such as “Reservation Dogs,” “ Wild Indian ,” “The Body Remembers When the World Broken Open,” “ Beans ,” and more. That presence put even greater pressure on Costner. And so far, he hasn’t completely overcome being the director of “Dancing with Wolves.” That filmmaker, for better or for worse, still exists here in every corner of this epic picture. 

While the first film in the possible “Horizon” series does well in setting up future pictures, continuing the momentum Costner gained before he left “Yellowstone,” this single film is a chore to sit through. It rarely gives viewers what they want: seeing Costner on the open range. It gives us few memorable characters outside of Costner: I can’t remember the name of a single figure without looking at my notes. It feels like a debilitating mistake to bank on possible future films to land the entire concept. “Horizon” keeps far too many of the best bits far out of reach. 

This review was filed from the premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. It opens on June 28th.

Robert Daniels

Robert Daniels is an Associate Editor at RogerEbert.com. Based in Chicago, he is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA) and Critics Choice Association (CCA) and regularly contributes to the  New York Times ,  IndieWire , and  Screen Daily . He has covered film festivals ranging from Cannes to Sundance to Toronto. He has also written for the Criterion Collection, the  Los Angeles Times , and  Rolling Stone  about Black American pop culture and issues of representation.

Now playing

Boy Kills World

Simon abrams.

Christy Lemire

Matt Zoller Seitz

Art College 1994

Taking Venice

Film credits.

Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 (2024)

181 minutes

• Kevin Costner

Sienna Miller

Sam Worthington

Giovanni Ribisi

Jena Malone

Michael Rooker

Danny Huston

Luke Wilson

Isabelle Fuhrman as Diamond

Will Patton

Tatanka Means

Owen Crow Shoe

Jamie Campbell Bower

Colin Cunningham

Michael Angarano

Angus MacFadyen

Kathleen Quinlan as Annie Pine

Latest blog posts

Cannes 2024: The Substance, Visiting Hours

Jack Flack Always Escapes: Dabney Coleman (1932-2024)

Cannes 2024 Video #3: Megalopolis, Kinds of Kindness, Oh Canada, Bird, Wild Diamond

Chaz Ebert and Esteemed Panelists Discuss Purpose-Driven Filmmaking at Cannes Film Festival

site categories

Ryan reynolds “surprised” by disney letting ‘deadpool & wolverine’ be a “hard r”: “i think it’s a huge step for them”.

• ‘Horizon: An American Saga’ Review: Kevin Costner’s Chapter 1 (Of 4) Sets Stage For Epic Story Of American West And Its Complicated History – Cannes Film Festival

By Pete Hammond

Pete Hammond

Awards Columnist/Chief Film Critic

More Stories By Pete

• Cannes Film Festival 2024: All Of Deadline’s Movie Reviews
• ‘The Apprentice’ Review: Sebastian Stan And Jeremy Strong Soar As Young Donald Trump And His Ruthless Mentor Roy Cohn In Devilish Origin Story – Cannes Film Festival

Related Stories

Kevin Costner’s ‘Horizon: An American Saga’ Gets 11-Minute Ovation At Its Cannes World Premiere

Kevin Costner Reveals The Epic Journey Of His Cannes Western ‘Horizon’ And Has His Say On ‘Yellowstone’ Rancor

Running three hours, this film, scheduled for release by New Line and Warner Bros on June 28, is just “Chapter 1”, first of an unusual planned series of four separate films (not sequels) continuing the massive story, with Chapter 2 already in the can and scheduled for an August 16 release, and Chapter 3 reportedly going before the cameras imminently. Of course this multi-part saga is not unusual for television, where it thrives in the limited series form, but for movies it is virtually unheard of — along with the fact that its star/director, who has been dreaming of this in various forms since 1988, is largely footing the bill.

RELATED: ‘Horizon: An American Saga’ Cannes Film Festival Premiere Photos: Kevin Costner, Sienna Miller Luke Wilson & More

RELATED: ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’ Review: Chris Hemsworth And Anya Taylor-Joy Take Dystopian Franchise To New Levels

But nothing on this scale has ever been attempted for this kind of release pattern on the big screen, and I would say, at least based on the first part with its huge cast of characters and storylines woven in and out, Costner’s biggest influence may have in fact been 1963’s Cinerama production of How the West Was Won. I know from multiple interviews in the past, including mine, Costner has always noted the impact seeing that film (nominated for Best Picture and winner of three Oscars including Best Original Screenplay) with his father made a lifelong impression on him. It similarly traversed many years, characters and story arcs like Horizon does but was just one long, reserved seat movie event. Horizon has four times its spirit at the very least.

RELATED: Kevin Costner, Sienna Miller, Luke Wilson & Cast Talk ‘Horizon’: “We Can’t Be Consumed With Making Our Pile Of Money Bigger As Much As Our Heart Full” – Cannes Studio

Spanning about 15 years from the end of the Civil War (a factor but not the focus here), Horizon is about the expansion and settlement of the American West, those brave white people who made their way on horse and wagon trains to the promise of a new life. Literally. In the movie Horizon is the name of a basically suburban dream. Flyers are continually seen urging people to come West. “If you want a farm or home the best thing in the West is the town of Horizon. Best grazing land in the world, the richest land, premium virgin land with pure and abundant water, temperate climate, and excellent health,” it advertises to potential settlers.

What it doesn’t say is it is also the home of American Indians, our Native Americans, many who are understandably not too keen about this development on what they consider their territory, and that it could also be a dangerous proposition. But this is a film about Manifest Destiny, and therein will lie many of the complications for these (many) people we meet along the way. And of course in different parts of the world this concept makes this movie still relevant, even as it is told as a piece of our history.

It is clear from this Chapter 1 that Costner, who co-wrote the script with Jon Baird and a story from Mark Kasdan, is interested again in this conundrum with the Indigenous population, just as he was in Dances With Wolves in going for a much deeper and complex study than what Hollywood largely did for decades in its treatment of the American Indian on film. And coming on the heels of another film that premiered in Cannes last year, Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, it will be interesting to see how it all plays out in the upcoming chapters . In this one the table is set and we meet a lot of the key players, with the emphasis on those white settlers who made their way west as the Civil War had ravaged the Union, but with the promise of changing times giving hope.

Chief among the settlers is Costner’s character, Hayes Ellison, a lone wolf type who would like to keep to himself but keeps getting drawn into things he would rather avoid. He has survival and fighting skills that will come in handy, especially in some confrontations with very bad guys who are making trouble, notably the outlaw Sykes family.

This is a huge cast, but Costner tries to get them all introduced here including the intriguing Sam Worthington character of First Lt. Trent Gephardt, a soldier stationed at Fort Gallant but a guy with questions about himself and where he is going in this new world. Danny Huston’s sympathetic Col. Houghton has his hands full with the emerging droves of settlers, but knows there will be no way to stop, or possibly protect them when they get to Horizon. And you can count in Michael Rooker’s Sgt Major Riordan, who has the same concerns at Gallant.

Others include Luke Wilson’s good but reluctant leader of a wagon train, chosen against his will but trying to live up to the challenge, and Will Patton, a widower still recovering from the Civil War and accompanying his three daughters for a better shot at life.

The Native Americans are authentically cast, as you might expect in any movie from the filmmaker of Dances With Wolves. Standouts include Owen Crow Shoe as Pionsenay, an Apache warrior who is confused and frustrated with clashes with the settlers and none too pleased at this development, as opposed to brother Taklishim (a fine Tatanka Means) who is siding with their father, the Chief, in trying to be non-confrontational. Liluye (an excellent Wase Winyan Chief) is also his wife and mother of their baby, but she seems to have more fortitude and actually believes they should, like her brother-in-law, be resisting the rise of the settlers rather than sitting idly by.

Giovanni Ribisi, Glynn Turman, Tom Payne, Kathleen Quinlan, Angus MacFayden and countless others also pop in and out, some with perhaps more to do in ensuing chapters. There are more than 170 speaking roles in the series which is being shot on locations in Utah, with stunning cinematography by J. Michael Muro who captures the grandeur of the Old West in style. Other shout-outs go to Derek R. Hill’s authentic production design and John Debney’s stirring score.

For Costner, this is an impressive beginning, with the promise of more to come. It even ends with a montage of scenes from the second film coming in August, much like you might see if this were a television production, something it is defiantly not. With Horizon: An American Saga, Costner is just trying to keep the American Western alive, but he may, with this innovative roll of the dice, also be trying to keep theaters alive at the same time, that is if there is still an appetite for Westerns. Hopefully there is.

Title: Horizon: An American Saga Distributor: Warner Bros Festival: Cannes (Out of Competition) Release date: June 28, 2024 Director: Kevin Costner Screenwriters: Kevin Costner, Jon Baird Cast: Kevin Costner, Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Jena Malone, Danny Huston, Luke Wilson, Michael Rooker, Will Patton, Owen Crow Shoe, Tatanka Means, Wase Winyan Chief, Jamie Campbell Bower, Isabelle Fuhrman, Jon Beavers Rating: R Running time: 3 hr 1 min

Must Read Stories

Trump origin pic ‘apprentice’ with stan, strong & bakalova: review + red carpet.

Will Smith’s ‘Sugar Bandits’ Seals Deals; A24 Landing Östlund Pic

Hbo orders steve carell comedy series from bill lawrence, matt tarses & wbtv, chaos in hush-money trial as judge clears courtroom; prosecution rests its case.

Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy.

Read More About:

14 comments.

Deadline is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2024 Deadline Hollywood, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

More From Forbes

Kevin costner’s ‘horizon: an american saga’ is absolutely breathtaking in epic new trailer.

• Share to Facebook
• Share to Twitter
• Share to Linkedin

Kevin Costner in Horizon: An American Saga Part 1

Kevin Costner has been hard at work on an epic, four-part Western film series called Horizon: An American Saga. The first two films in the saga come out this summer, on June 28th and August 16th respectively.

This labor of love has been years in the making, taking up so much of Costner’s time that he had to leave his starring role on the hit show Yellowstone. When I watched the first trailer , I could see why. Part 1 looks absolutely stunning, and in the second trailer we get a little bit more story to sink our teeth into.

This is my part of the country, so I’m especially excited when I see the rugged plateaus and sweeping yellow aspen forests. Costner is filming the movies in Southern Utah, just north of where I live in Northern Arizona. I’ve passed through the area many times. The four-corners area of the country, where Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona meet is the perfect filming location for Westerns, with wide open spaces, red rock bluffs, mountain ranges, deserts, forests, canyons, rivers and lakes and radical changes from one biome to another.

This is definitely one of my most-anticipated movies of the summer (well, two of my most anticipated movies of the summer) and the most excited I’ve been about a new Western since . . . well I don’t actually recall. Deadwood maybe, and that’s a TV series.

Best Nintendo Switch Games: It’s Mario’s World, We’re Just Visiting

I’m also very excited for Viggo Mortensen’s Western The Dead Don’t Hurt which he not only wrote and directed, but also composed the music—and stars, of course. It’s almost like we’re in the middle of a Western revival or something. As someone who grew up on John Wayne movies, who ranks Unforgiven among the best films ever made, count me in.

• Editorial Standards
• Reprints & Permissions

Join The Conversation

One Community. Many Voices. Create a free account to share your thoughts. 

Forbes Community Guidelines

Our community is about connecting people through open and thoughtful conversations. We want our readers to share their views and exchange ideas and facts in a safe space.

In order to do so, please follow the posting rules in our site's  Terms of Service.   We've summarized some of those key rules below. Simply put, keep it civil.

Your post will be rejected if we notice that it seems to contain:

• False or intentionally out-of-context or misleading information
• Insults, profanity, incoherent, obscene or inflammatory language or threats of any kind
• Attacks on the identity of other commenters or the article's author
• Content that otherwise violates our site's  terms.

User accounts will be blocked if we notice or believe that users are engaged in:

• Continuous attempts to re-post comments that have been previously moderated/rejected
• Racist, sexist, homophobic or other discriminatory comments
• Attempts or tactics that put the site security at risk
• Actions that otherwise violate our site's  terms.

So, how can you be a power user?

• Stay on topic and share your insights
• Feel free to be clear and thoughtful to get your point across
• ‘Like’ or ‘Dislike’ to show your point of view.
• Protect your community.
• Use the report tool to alert us when someone breaks the rules.

Thanks for reading our community guidelines. Please read the full list of posting rules found in our site's  Terms of Service.

‘Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1’ Review: Sprawling Yet Thinly Spread, the First Part of Kevin Costner’s Western Epic Feels Like the Set-Up for a TV Miniseries

It's set in 1859 and has a few vivid characters, from settlers to Native Americans, but the films jumps around too much and explains too little.

By Owen Gleiberman

Owen Gleiberman

Chief Film Critic

• ‘The Shrouds’ Review: David Cronenberg Makes a Movie About Grief — and Body Horror, and Digital Gravestones — That in Its Somber Way Verges on Self-Parody 3 hours ago
• ‘The Apprentice’ Review: Sebastian Stan Plays Donald Trump in a Docudrama That Nails Everything About Him but His Mystery 7 hours ago
• ‘Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1’ Review: Sprawling Yet Thinly Spread, the First Part of Kevin Costner’s Western Epic Feels Like the Set-Up for a TV Miniseries 1 day ago

Arriving in the middle of the art smorgasbord that’s the Cannes Film Festival , a three-hour Western directed by Kevin Costner sounded like it might be just the ticket for a perfect night of counterprogramming: a grandly scaled slice of neo-classical Hollywood. That, after all, describes the other two Westerns Costner has directed (“Dances with Wolves” and “Open Range”), as well as his quirky sci-fi pseudo-Western “The Postman.” There’s no question that “ Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1 ,” Costner’s fourth outing as a director, gives off some of that traditional flavor.

Popular on Variety

And that feels like a major disappointment. As a stand-alone film (which it isn’t, but let’s pretend for a moment), “Horizon” is by turns convoluted, ambitious, intriguing, and meandering. But it’s never quite moving. It’s too busy laying down narrative tracks and hammering out the minutiae of situations that don’t feel like they’re leading anywhere special.

Costner, to his credit, wants to nudge the Western away from a white hat/black hat mythology that’s now outdated. He wants shades of gray, and characters we can’t pigeonhole as heroes or villains (though there are a few of those). But too often the action feels hurried, both overstaged and underscripted. One of the key locales is the settlement of Horizon, advertised on handbills — a place that’s not quite a place yet, because when people show up to settle there they tend to get killed by the local Apache. We see an Apache raid that ends up in apocalyptic fire, and experience it from inside the home of Frances Kittredge ( Sienna Miller ) and her daughter, Elizabeth (Georgia MacPhail), the two of whom hide in a hole under the living room, which is so airtight that they have to poke a rifle out of the ground and use the gun barrel as a breathing tube. That’s a vivid detail, and then Frances loses her husband and son. But it’s jarring to take this all in before we’ve even had a sense of who this family is.

The Native characters are the attackers, but we see several extended scenes from their point-of-view. They are never “the other,” the simple enemy. That said, there are two speeches in the movie, one by an Apache war chief (Gregory Cruz) and one by a U.S. cavalry officer (Danny Huston), that address the fundamental issue of the Indigenous tribes trying to stop what they call the “white-eye” settlers who’ve invaded their land. And both speeches, weirdly, make the same point: that even if the Native people are justified, and even if they keep trying to fight the settlers, they’re doomed to lose. The settlers will keep coming. History is not on the Natives’ side. This seems an awfully definitive vision to hold in 1859. And while Costner doesn’t seem unsympathetic to his Native characters, it’s not clear, as of now, how much they’ll take on a life of their own.

There are also scenes set on a covered-wagon trail that center on the Proctors, an effete English couple who’ve joined the Westward movement. They have a very naïve and almost charmingly entitled attitude (they don’t realize that they have to work, too — that the other settlers are not their servants), but Matthew Van Weyden, the leader of the wagon train, sets them straight. He’s played by Luke Wilson, who is very good, shaking off any semblance of his usual irony. Meanwhile, Frances and her daughter wind up being taken care of at a U.S. Army encampment, where First Lieutenant Trent Gephart (Sam Worthington) attracts Frances’ attention by being both handsome and too gentlemanly for his own good.  

A few of these characters are interesting; none of them are memorable. “Horizon” is no “Lonesome Dove,” though Costner tries, and mostly succeeds, at setting aside Western clichés about what towns really looked like, and how frontier life worked. The real problem is the script (by Costner and Jon Baird), which is shapeless. It doesn’t weave these stories together; it stacks them next to each other like a series of cabooses. Yet I think the idea is that the design of it all will come into focus as we see “Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 2” (later this year), and then, at some point, “Chapter 3” (which is now scheduled) and maybe, if all goes according to plan, more chapters. I seriously hope not. I’m not sure how much juice there is to squeeze out of these characters, but even if there is some I don’t want to see movies turn into television. Just about every Western of the studio era came in at two hours or less, and so did most of the revisionist Westerns (and some of those were complicated ). There’s a reason for that. It’s all the time they needed.

Reviewed at Cannes Film Festival (Out of Competition), May 19, 2024. MPAA Rating: R. Running time: 181 MIN.

• Production: A Warner Bros. Pictures release of a New Line Cinema, Territory Pictures production. Producers: Kevin Costner, Howard Kaplan, Mark Gillard. Executive producers: Robert J. Scannell, Danny Peykoff, Marc DeBevoise, Armyan Bernstein, Rod Lake, Charlie Lyons, Barry M. Berg.
• Crew: Director: Kevin Costner. Screenplay: Jon Baird, Kevin Costner. Camera: J. Michael Muro. Editor: Miklos Wright. Music: John Debney.
• With: Kevin Costner, Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Jena Malone, Owen Crow Shoe, Tatanka Means, Ella Hunt, Tim Guinee, Giovanni Ribisi, Danny Huston, Colin Cunningham, Scott Haze, Tom Payne, Abby Lee, Michael Rooker, Will Patton.

More From Our Brands

Sexual assault lawsuit against former grammy ceo dismisse, former washington commanders owner donates $35 million maryland estate to charity, big ten reclaims revenue lead after earning $880m in fy23, the best loofahs and body scrubbers, according to dermatologists, ratings: csi: vegas draws biggest audience ever with unplanned series finale, verify it's you, please log in.

Kevin Costner put $38 million of his own cash behind 'Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1.' Critics say it sucks.

• Kevin Costner's new movie "Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1" premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.
• Costner left "Yellowstone" and spent $38 million of his own money to make the movie.
• Critics were not kind to the movie, saying the movie felt more like a TV series.

Kevin Costner 's upcoming western movie, "Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1," which he mortgaged a house to fund, was battered by critics after its premiere at the Cannes film festival.

Costner has invested a lot in "Horizon," a four-part movie the actor-director has been trying to make since 1988.

Costner told GQ that he spent $38 million of his own money and mortgaged his seaside estate in Santa Barbara, California, to fund the movie.

Last year, Costner also testified in court during a child-support hearing that his sudden departure from " Yellowstone " in 2023 was influenced by "Horizon."

Costner directs, stars in, and cowrote "Horizon," where the first part premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday.

(The second part is also ready for release soon, while the rest are still in production.)

However, critics were not impressed, and the movie's Rotten Tomatoes score currently stands at 20%.

Here's what critics have said about " Horizon: An American Saga — chapter 1," which premieres in theaters on June 28.

Critics said "Horizon" chapter one was a slow, muddled start.

According to critics, "Horizon" features a number of intertwined stories set in the US of 1859.

Critics said this approach made the movie feel slow, jarring and confusing to follow.

It has a "slow build" that "takes so long to get going that Costner doesn't even appear on screen until an hour in," wrote Robert Daniels, a contributor to RogerEbert.com .

He called the first third of the movie "a long preamble, a structural decision indicative of a film grinding and failing to prove itself as a standalone feature."

Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair 's chief critic, wrote: "The writing and direction is so erratic and confused that it's near impossible to figure out who several characters are, let alone what they are seeking to accomplish."

Peter Bradshaw, a film critic for The Guardian , wrote: "And so the film moseys blankly along and, aside from some mildly diverting moments, it spends 180 keeping you guessing as to when and whether it is going to be interesting."

Some critics said "Horizon" felt more like a TV show.

Many critics thought the structure of "Horizon" was more like an episode of a TV series.

Lawson, who called the movie a contender for "biggest American boondoggle" in Cannes, compared "Horizon" to "Game of Thrones."

"Costner, who cowrote the script with Jon Baird, introduces us to a television season's worth of characters and plot threads. He jumps from one location to another, much as 'Game of Thrones' did," Lawson added. "Yet Costner never lets us feel the grand interconnectedness of these stories."

David Rooney, chief film critic for The Hollywood Reporter , wrote that "Horizon" was like "a limited series overhauled as a movie, but more like a hasty rough cut than a release ready for any format."

Owen Gleiberman, Variety 's chief film critic, wrote that the movie lacks a "moving" story for viewers and "feels like the seedbed for a miniseries."

"What you realize, after a while, is that 'Horizon' isn't just a glorified TV series made with more expensively gritty production values. It's the setup for a TV series," he wrote later in the review.

"It's the early stuff we need to know before the drama totally kicks in. It doesn't weave these stories together; it stacks them next to each other like a series of cabooses."

Critics were divided on whether the performances were good.

Pete Hammond, Deadline 's chief film critic, and Lee Marshall, a Screen Daily critic, praised the female actors in the movie, especially Sienna Miller .

Miller "does her best to give some emotional heft to a cliched role" Marshall wrote of her performance as Frances Kittredge.

However, Gleiberman and Daniels said that none of the characters were memorable due to the constant story-hopping.

"Even with the cataclysmic scenes of death, the first hour does little to endear these characters," Daniels wrote. "They're bespoke people whose connections aren't immediately clear and only become vaguely obvious toward the picture's conclusion."

Daniels wrote that Costner has only a minor role to allow space for the other main characters.

Critics mostly agreed that the Apache tribe is underutilized.

According to critic reviews, a major plot thread in "Horizon" is the conflict between settlers and Native Americans. This conflict is prevalent in Western movies , and there have been racist portrayals of Native Americans in the past.

Hammond wrote that the Apache tribe members in the movie are "authentically cast," and Gleiberman wrote that the Native characters are not portrayed as "'the other,' the simple enemy."

Other critics said that the Apache characters were underdeveloped.

"The film only pays them lip service," Lawson wrote. "Mostly they function as the brutal antagonizers of the Horizon townsfolk, who are nearly wiped out in a nighttime raid that is one of the film's very few action sequences — the rest is the dullest and hoariest of talk."

Daniels wrote that the screentime for the families of the Apache warriors "pales in comparison to their white counterparts."

"As much as Costner tries to play an even hand, attempting to give the Indigenous and settler perspective equal attention, it doesn't wholly work," Daniels added.

May 20, 2024: This story has been updated to use a figure Kevin Costner gave for his spending on "Horizon," rather than an estimate. He told GQ it was $38 million.

• Main content

Critics Slam Kevin Costner's ‘Horizon: An American Saga': "A Clumsy Slog Beyond Saving"

Kevin Costner's new Western epic may have gotten a 10-minute standing ovation at Cannes, but once critics got back from festival screenings to their hotel rooms, they posted reviews for Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 that were far less enthusiastic.

Horizon is the first film in writer-director-star Costner's massive four-picture gamble which he famously leveraged one of his homes to help finance (spending $20 million out of pocket for the $90 million-budgeted film). Chapter 1 is three hours and is largely focused on setting the stage - introducing a sprawling ensemble of characters, with the promise of more dramatic events to come in the remaining films.

There are not a large number of reviews for the post-Civil War Western tale so far, but some of the early critiques are pretty harsh. The most common complaint is the film doesn't feel like cinema so much as a trio of back-to-back episodes of a new TV series, and one that's rather jumbled at that. Some are even comparing it to Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis , another decades-in-the-making directorial passion project that has drawn critical fire at the festival.

Here are some early review highlights:

- Hollywood Reporter called it a "clumsy slog … It plays like a limited series overhauled as a movie, but more like a hasty rough cut than a release ready for any format. This first part of a quartet of films is littered with inessential scenes and characters that go nowhere, taking far too long to connect its messy plot threads … Any of these plotlines might have sustained an hour of compelling television but they don't add up to much in this awkwardly stitched quilt, which rarely provides the space for anyone's experiences to resonate … Costner in a form-fitting role will be a reassuring presence. He was never an actor with the broadest range, but always appealing - even when he arrives late, as he does here, and remains on the glum side."

- Vanity Fair called it "more like Waterworld than Dances with Wolves . A jumble of clichéd plots rendered in washed-out color (and washed-out performances),  Horizon  may rival  Megalopolis  as the biggest American boondoggle at this year's Cannes … Perhaps all [the storylines] will cogently, even movingly, converge in Chapter 2, but there's little reason to have faith. This first foray sets a table that seems beyond saving by the end. At least  Horizon  accomplishes one staggering feat: it makes one wonder if we were maybe a little too hard on  The Postman ."

- IndieWire called it the "dullest cinematic vanity project of the century" and wrote, " Horizon is shot handsomely with a capital H by J. Michael Muro with the aspect ratio and camera placement of a high-budget television series. Which, along with the movie's clumsy episodic structure, leads you to believe that Costner may have been trying to out-Taylor Sheridan  Taylor Sheridan , the Yellowstone showrunner he's rumored to have drama with as the show supposedly readies for return sans Costner. Costner's vainglorious efforts in crafting a sincere Western opus he poured much of his own money into are commendable mainly for what he's put on the line here. But Horizon makes even that other $100-million-plus vanity project at Cannes - Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis  - look like a work of uninhibited genius by comparison."

The Guardian : "After three saddle-sore hours, Kevin Costner's handsome-looking but oddly listless new western doesn't get much done in the way of satisfying storytelling. Admittedly, this is supposed to be just the first of a multi-part saga for which Costner is director, co-writer and star. But it somehow doesn't establish anything exciting for its various unresolved storylines, and doesn't leave us suspensefully hanging for anything else."

- Variety wrote that "it feels like the seedbed for a miniseries. Much of what happens is wispy and not very forceful; the film doesn't build in impact, and it seldom seems to aim in a clear direction. Costner, as an actor, doesn't show up until an hour in, and when he does, playing a gruff horse trader who's more than a horse trader, one feels the grounding so much of the film lacks. What you realize, after a while, is that Horizon isn't just a glorified TV series made with more expensively gritty production values. It's the  setup  for a TV series … The real problem is the script (by Costner and Jon Baird), which is shapeless. It doesn't weave these stories together; it stacks them next to each other like a series of cabooses."

- RogerEbert.com gave it two stars out of five: "While the first film in the possible Horizon series does well in setting up future pictures, continuing the momentum Costner gained before he left Yellowstone , this single film is a chore to sit through. It rarely gives viewers what they want: seeing Costner on the open range. It gives us few memorable characters outside of Costner: I can't remember the name of a single figure without looking at my notes. It feels like a debilitating mistake to bank on possible future films to land the entire concept. Horizon keeps far too many of the best bits far out of reach."

Yet there are a few positive reviews as well, such as …

The Telegraph called it "grandad cinema" (in a good way): "Part of the pleasure of Horizon is the sheer, magisterial sweep of the thing – with mountains and buttes and mesas like these, who needs CG? But its texture lives in small, telling details: we often learn about characters from their approaches to work, be it honest manual labour or otherwise. Perhaps its full grandeur won't be apparent until these tales are completed in part two. But there's more than enough grandeur here to be getting on with."

Horizon  also stars Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Jena Malone, Abbey Lee, Michael Rooker, Huston, Luke Wilson, Isabelle Fuhrman, Jeff Fahey, Will Patton, Tatanka Means, Owen Crow Shoe, Ella Hunt and Jamie Campbell Bower.

The first film will be released in theaters June 28, followed by its second chapter just two months later. 

More from The Hollywood Reporter

• 'Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter One' Review: Kevin Costner Gets Thrown From His Horse in Muddled Western Epic
• Demi Moore Offers Support to Chopard Honorees Mike Faist, Sophie Wilde at Cannes Gala: "You Don't Have to Do It Alone"

Breaking News

Fantasy blacksmith codes (new), blood&legend:dragon king idle codes (new), tanks a lot – 3v3 battle arena codes (new), yong heroes 2: storm returns codes (new), battle disc codes (new), mini heroes: summoners war codes (new), swords and sandals immortals codes (new), real cricket™ 22 codes (new), bestie breakup – run for love codes (new), elune codes (new).

Horizon Line (2020) Movie Review

There are many films released in 2020 that have had their screenings delayed in Indonesian cinemas due to the COVID-19 pandemic. One of them is Horizon Line , a Swedish production film that carries the thriller and survival genre at the same time . This film is planned to be released in a number of Indonesian cinemas starting December 2022.

The synopsis for the film Horizon Line tells the story of Jackson and Sara, a pair of ex-lovers who board a small plane to get to the island where their friend’s wedding is. However, while in the air, the pilot of the plane died of a heart attack. Jackson and Sara also have to put aside their personal problems in order to survive on sober knowledge.

So, before watching the Horizon Line movie in theaters, first consider the following Bumareview !

• 1.1 A unique survival story , but less logical
• 1.2 Unimpressive character
• 1.3 The number of plot holes that just missed

Horizon Line (2020) film review

A unique survival story , but less logical.

Horizon Line actually has a concept that is quite interesting as a thriller as well as a survival film . This film is even quite successful in presenting tension in several scenes through characters who have minimal knowledge of piloting airplanes. Unfortunately, there are more moments that feel less logical or don’t make sense in this film.

Yep, if you think logically, there are many moments in this film that should have killed Sara and Jackson. However, they actually manage to survive in a way that is actually impossible to happen in the real world.

Maybe for those of you who have never thought deeply about the logic or not of the actions of a film character, Horizon Line can be a film that seems exciting and tense. However, this film actually feels like it provides the thickest possible armor plot for Sara and Jackson so they can survive even in a ridiculous way.

Unimpressive character

Another shortcoming in this film lies in the lack of characterizations of Sara and Jackson as the main characters. The tension in their relationship as a pair of ex-lovers didn’t even feel at all after the two of them started getting stuck in a plane that no longer had a pilot. This makes their status as lovers only seem to be a sweetener from the storyline.

Apart from that, the audience actually felt more irritated with Sara and Jackson . You see, Sara and Jackson make more stupid decisions to survive throughout the film. As a result, the audience feels more irritated with the two of them and has less hope that the two of them can survive this threatening situation.

The number of plot holes that just missed

Horizon Line has a relatively short duration for a thriller – survival film , which is 92 minutes or 1 hour 32 minutes. This duration actually makes the storyline and conflict resolution take place quickly and not be long-winded. However, the relatively short duration also makes the film leave a lot of plot holes in the ending.

The series of plot holes will definitely be missed because the story in this film doesn’t have the potential to have a sequel at all. As a result, the scene that becomes a plot hole seems to be a moment that is very useless to happen in the film. Because there is no further explanation regarding this moment.

With its unique concept, Horizon Line failed to execute its story into a thriller that makes sense and is entertaining. If you are still interested, you can watch this film in a number of Indonesian cinemas starting December 7, 2022.

Related Posts:

• Ikonei Island: An Earthlock Adventure Codes (New)
• A fascinating story : Wedding Night Codes (New)
• 希望与岛 Hope with Island Codes (New)
• The Witch of Fern Island Codes (New)
• Rally Horizon Codes (New)
• Family Island™ Farming game Codes (New)

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

The Definitive Voice of Entertainment News

Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter

site categories

‘horizon: an american saga — chapter one’ review: kevin costner gets thrown from his horse in muddled western epic.

The director stars alongside Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Jena Malone and Luke Wilson in the opener of a quartet of films about the settlement of the American West.

By David Rooney

David Rooney

Chief Film Critic

• Share this article on Facebook
• Share this article on Twitter
• Share this article on Flipboard
• Share this article on Email
• Show additional share options
• Share this article on Linkedin
• Share this article on Pinit
• Share this article on Reddit
• Share this article on Tumblr
• Share this article on Whatsapp
• Share this article on Print
• Share this article on Comment

Related Stories

Critics slam kevin costner's 'horizon: an american saga': "a clumsy slog beyond saving", cannes halftime report card on films' awards prospects -- for fest and fall prizes, horizon: an american saga — chapter one.

What’s most perplexing coming from Costner is the uncomfortably long time the film takes to show sensitivity toward its Indigenous characters. We’re well into Horizon before the perspective on Native resistance is broadened to acknowledge that their murderous attacks on new settlements are a direct response to the occupation of their ancestral lands. It’s very confusing to see a Western in 2024 and find yourself thinking, “Wait, so American Indians are the bad guys again?”

The blustery notes of John Debney’s score over the opening title card announce that we’re about to watch A Work of Great Importance. It begins in Arizona’s San Pedro Valley in 1859, as three surveyors, one of them just a boy, hammer stakes into the ground to mark a plot of riverside land. Two Indigenous kids observing from the rocky hills wonder what the white folks are doing and why they have come. The two adult Native brothers who appear shortly after, Pionsenay (Owen Crow Shoe) and Taklishim (Tatanka Means), are not so much curious as simmering with rage.

The action then jumps to Montana Territory, where Lucy ( Jena Malone ) empties a rifle into James Sykes (Charles Halford), a man who has clearly wronged her, then takes off with their infant son. The dead man’s tough family matriarch (Dale Dickey) sends her two sons, Caleb (Jamie Campbell Bower) and Junior (Job Beavers), to dole out retribution and bring back her grandchild. One is a hotheaded idiot, the other smarter and more controlled, plus he can rock a silver wolf stole.

Meanwhile, back at the river, the new township of Horizon — advertised on widely distributed handbills — has sprung up directly across from those three graves. But any sense of security is instantly erased when Pionsenay and Taklishim lead a deadly ambush. Acting against the advice of their father (Gregory Cruz), an elder of the White Mountain Apache tribe who warns of the inevitable cycle of violence, they kill any settlers unable to get to safety and torch structures that have only just been erected.

In the movie’s most visceral sequence, the tribesmen close in on the home of the Kittredge family. Along with a handful of community members who have gone there for shelter, the father, James (Tim Guinee), and teenage son Nate (the director’s son Hayes Costner) try to hold off the attackers while the mother Frances ( Sienna Miller ) and daughter Lizzie (Georgia MacPhail) hide out in a hatch under the floorboards.

Working from a discursive screenplay he co-wrote with Jon Baird, Costner is not at his best as a director with this kind of multi-branched narrative. He struggles to keep all the story’s plates spinning, as characters are sidelined and resurface with too little connective tissue.

It’s almost an hour into the film before Costner appears as Hayes Ellison, a taciturn loner described by one of the Sykes boys as a “saddle tramp.” The role allows Kev to go full Clint, conveying the inner conflict of a troubled man wishing to leave violence behind but skilled enough with a firearm to handle it when provoked. Presumably, the character will reveal more layers and maybe a backstory in Chapter Two.

Hayes is the figure who begins to tie things together when he ambles into a small township and catches the eye of Marigold (Abbey Lee), who turns tricks to get by and babysits for Lucy, now going by Ellen and married to good-natured Walter Childs (Michael Angarano). Marigold is an annoying character — dumb, whiny, opportunistic — and it’s a slight stretch that a man as careworn and solitary as Hayes would be suckered into helping her, putting them both in danger. The unconvincing performance of Lee does nothing to make Marigold more palatable.

Despite the harsh conditions and extreme danger involved in the expansion of the West, wagon trains of new settlers keep coming. Traveling with one of them is military captain Matthew Van Weyden ( Luke Wilson ), who lands the exasperating job of de facto leader, dealing with disputes and ensuring that everyone contributes to the workload. That comes as a surprise to a couple of over-educated but clueless Brits begging to be scalped, Juliette (Ella Hunt) and Hugh (Tom Payne).

Any of these plotlines might have sustained an hour of compelling television but they don’t add up to much in this awkwardly stitched quilt, which rarely provides the space for anyone’s experiences to resonate. That also limits the scope for the actors to breathe much dimensionality into their roles. Dialogue-driven scenes often feel stilted and lifeless; the characters played by Costner, Worthington, Miller and Malone at this point show the most potential.

The subtitle An American Saga and some easy guesswork suggest that as Horizon continues the project will become a broad-canvas picture of frontier life and its challenges, of the constant threat of outlaws and Indigenous attack, and the injustices toward Natives that indelibly stained the soil of the West with blood. Hopefully, it will also acquire some much-needed structure.

For many Western lovers of a certain age, Costner in a form-fitting role will be a reassuring presence. He was never an actor with the broadest range, but always appealing — even when he arrives late, as he does here, and remains on the glum side. Just don’t build up your hopes too much.

Full credits

Thr newsletters.

Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day

More from The Hollywood Reporter

Emotional david cronenberg unveils horror-filled meditation on grief ‘the shrouds’ at cannes, mark wahlberg’s ‘flight risk’ movie from director mel gibson lands fall 2024 release, ‘the shrouds’ review: vincent cassel and diane kruger star in david cronenberg’s sincere but undercooked sci-fi drama, ryan reynolds was “surprised” and “grateful” disney allowed r-rating for ‘deadpool & wolverine’, lucy hale jets off to ‘good life’ for director bonnie rodini and angel oak films, tobias santelmann, joel kinnaman to star in netflix’s harry hole nordic noir series.