Daisy Edgar-Jones and director Daniel Minihan are explaining the ending of On Swift Horses.
The film ends with three of its main characters left alone. Muriel (Daisy Edgar-Jones) leaves her husband Lee after realizing she’s queer and moves into her mom’s house which her husband thought she’d sold years ago. In doing so, she also moves away from her neighbor and friend Sandra (Sasha Calle).
“We like to believe that eventually Muriel reconnected with Sandra,” said Daniel. “That was a strong bond. But Muriel kept that secret the whole time of holding onto her mother’s home, which really means something significant to her.”
“She seems contented (sic) there,” he continued. “Her mom was a big influence on her. The first time she really opens up to someone is to Sandra, when she describes all of the things that her mother did and what an iconoclastic character she was.”
As for Julius (Jacob Elordi), he takes the horse he gifted to Muriel and Lee and rides off into the sunset.
Director Daniel says that despite fans thinking the sunset scene means something deeper, it simply indicates that Julius has left to look for the love of his life, Henry (Diego Calva).
“It is interesting that some people interpret him riding into the sunrise through the desert in a different way,” he commented.
“Our intention was that he’s going to find Henry and meet him again in Las Vegas and probably blow up his life again,” he explained.
Edgar-Jones also explained that Muriel’s gambling gives her financial independence and frees her of compulsions.
“That journey with the gambling is really interesting,” Daisy Edgar-Jones said. “She’s starting to push back or rebel in her own quiet way with that. She’s also doing the same in her love life. What [the gambling] gives her in terms of independence and the freedom to make choices based on what she wants, not out of necessity, is an amazing arc that it takes her on.”
