Sep 10
'Saltburn' Hunk Jacob Elordi Stars in Another Hot Queer Movie, 'On Swift Horses'
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
After his sizzling turn in the erotic thriller "Saltburn," where Barry Keoghan lapped up his bath water, Jacob Elordi is playing gay in a film where both his character and that of co-star Daisy Edgar-Jones have same-sex romances.
Moreover, Elordi and "Babylon" star Diego Calva are a hot onscreen pairing, Variety reported.
The entertainment news outlet characterized the film as a "queer drama" and noted that its plot "follows a card shark and his sister-in-law as they navigate their hidden desires during the height of the 1950s..."
"It's an erotically charged film," Variety went on to add, "one that features plenty of sex between Elordi's character, Julius, and Diego Calva, who smolders as a con man who becomes entangled with the mysterious loner."
"Edgar-Jones, who plays Muriel, the wife of Julius' brother (Will Poulter), also engages in a steamy affair with Sandra, a bohemian neighbor played by Sasha Calle," Variety added.
Daniel Minahan (who executive produced both the 2021 Netflix miniseries "Halston," in which the queer fashion designer was portrayed by Ewan McGregor, and last year's Showtime miniseries "Fellow Travelers," which saw Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey portray civil servants hiding their decades-long relationship from a homophobic U.S. government) directed "On Swift Horses."
At a post-screening Q&A at the Toronto International Film Festival, Minahan "said he was drawn to the story because it offered 'a re-imagining of the American dream, except through a queer lens,'" Variety relayed.
"The film is based on a novel by Shannon Pufahl," the publication noted.
Pufahl "made a story about people who were hiding themselves, people who were watching, people who were exploring and trying to find themselves, and they end up connecting," Minahan told his audience at TIFF. "It's not a tragic ending to this story. It ends on a note of hope, and that was important to us all along."
Elordi also weighed in, reflecting "that playing Julius allowed him 'to be a cowboy," Variety detailed, before adding: "To create the character, he channeled Kerouac and 'got to be a kind of road warrior,' one who lived in 'shitty motels' and wore leather jackets."
"I felt the closest to American freedom that I think I'll ever feel," the Australia-born actor told the TIFF audience.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
