Spoilers for On Swift Horses are ahead! You can see this project from the 2025 movie schedule in theaters now.
In the final moments of On Swift Horses, the two worlds that Jacob Elordi’s Julius has made massive impacts in finally collide. It happens when Muriel (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and Henry (Diego Calva), the two people Julius had the strongest relationships with, meet at the same hotel. They share a dance before leaving missed connection notes for this man they both love, and it’s a beautiful full-circle moment. So, I asked the director about it, and he told me why it’s such a significant scene in the film even though it’s not in the book.
On Swift Horses is a book-to-screen adaptation of Shannon Pufahl's 2019 novel. It tells a story set in the 1950s about two kindred spirits, Muriel and Julius (the brother of Muriel’s husband), as they each get into the world of gambling and betting. Throughout the film, they also each explore their sexualities, Muriel with Sandra and Julius with Henry. So, at the end of the film, after it seems Julius has left for good, both Muriel and Henry show up looking for him and share a dance without realizing their connection.
Director Daniel Minahan told me during an interview for CinemaBlend that this pivotal scene was not in the source material; it was crafted by screenwriter Bryce Kass:
It’s not in the novel. It's an invention of the screenwriter, Bryce Kass. And when he presented that idea to me, ‘What if they run into each other in a bar and they're both looking for Julius, but they don't know each other or recognize each other?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, my God, it's movie magic.’ You know, it's so romantic. It kind of completes the circle.
He's right, this felt like a move made in some of the best romance movies, where something so magical and serendipitous happens that our hearts can’t help but flutter a bit. To quote Minahan, it was “movie magic.”
Seeing these two bond over their missed love without realizing they were looking for the same person was very moving. Then, seeing the notes they each left for Julius on the board after that was even more emotional, and it really reiterated how impactful and parallel the two fairly separate plotlines of this movie were.
To that point, Daisy Edgar-Jones, who has worked on her fair share of book adaptations, told me that this addition to the movie is something she loves a lot. It really ties these two people together in a big way for the audience without the characters ever really knowing it. As she said:
I also love it because…they're so significant to each other, or they're united by such a significant person in their life, which is Julius, but they don't know it. And I always love that where you find like the people that come into your life that you may be connected to, or the fact that a person that comes into your life can fundamentally change the course of it. And for them both, that was Julius, and so it's quite sweet to see them connect in some way, even though they don't know really that they share that.
Earlier in the interview, Diego Calva also called this moment “really hopeful.” Even though Julius didn’t show up then, seeing Henry and Muriel unite provided some light in a heavy moment. Then, later, when Elordi’s character did show up to find their notes together, it was all the more moving.
Personally, I love it when an adaptation puts its own spin on its source material in a way that gives it a fresh take while also amplifying the ideas of the original story. This choice in On Swift Horses did just that for me, and it made the end of the film even more impactful.
To compare this change with the book, you can get the novel on Amazon and see On Swift Horses, which could wind up being one of Jacob Elordi and Daisy Edgar-Jones’ best movies, in theaters now.
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