---
title: "Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1"
year: 2024
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/horizon-an-american-saga-chapter-1"
fi1m_id: "horizon-an-american-saga-chapter-1"
imdb_id: "tt17505010"
tmdb_id: 932086
wikidata_id: "Q124670101"
fi1m_score: 55
critics_score: 59
critics_reviews: 17
published: "2026-09-09"
updated: "2026-09-18T08:37:59.042634+00:00"
region: "US"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 (2024)

Directed by Kevin Costner · 3h 02m · MPA R · Western, Drama

## Identity

Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/horizon-an-american-saga-chapter-1
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** horizon-an-american-saga-chapter-1
- **IMDb ID:** tt17505010
- **TMDB ID:** 932086
- **Wikidata ID:** Q124670101
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt17505010/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/932086, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q124670101

**Fi1m score: 55** · Critics 59 from 17 reviews

*In a sentence:* Everyone rides somewhere, nobody arrives, and the sunsets are excellent

> Kevin Costner’s return to the western is handsomely built and honestly meant, and its long night attack on the settlement is properly frightening. It then spreads four stories across three hours, finishes none, and plays like the opening episodes of a series.

## Synopsis

A handbill promises settlers a new town called Horizon, on a river in the American south-west. The people who answer it build there, and one night the settlement is attacked and burned. Frances Kittredge (Sienna Miller) and her daughter survive and are taken to a cavalry fort by Trent Gephart (Sam Worthington). Far to the north a quiet loner, Hayes Ellison (Kevin Costner), rides into a mining camp and finds himself protecting a young woman, Marigold (Abbey Lee), and a baby from men who want them both. Elsewhere a wagon train inches west under Matthew Van Weyden (Luke Wilson). It is the first chapter of a longer saga.

## Review

Kevin Costner has not directed a western since *Open Range* in 2003, and he has come back with the largest thing he has attempted: the first chapter of a saga about the settling of one valley, running 182 minutes and carrying a 15. He directs, produces, takes the lead and shares the screenplay with Jon Baird. The care is plain in every frame. But *Horizon* starts four stories, takes each to the end of its first act, and stops, and we cannot recommend three hours of that to anyone who wants a film rather than the promise of one.

The best of it comes early. A town called Horizon has been staked out on a river in the south-west, and one night it is attacked and burned. Costner and his editor Miklos Wright let the attack run for what feels like half an hour, and J. Michael Muro shoots it mostly by the light of burning roofs, the camera low and among the settlers rather than above them. Frances Kittredge (Sienna Miller) gets her daughter under the floor of the house and holds her there while boots cross the boards over their heads. We were properly frightened for them and stayed frightened, because the film does not cut away to let us breathe. It is the one stretch where the film’s slowness works for it.

Costner himself arrives late, and the film steadies when he does. Hayes Ellison is a taciturn loner who wants a bath and a bed and gets instead Marigold (Abbey Lee), a baby that is not hers, and a family of killers on the road behind them. Costner has always been good at doing little; here he sits on a horse, says a sentence where another actor would say a paragraph, and lets Lee do the talking. Jeff Fahey’s tracker, riding with the men doing the hunting, is the only villain given a face worth remembering.

The other strands are where it comes apart. Sam Worthington’s cavalry officer, Trent Gephart, takes Frances and her daughter to the fort, and a courtship begins that the script forgets for forty minutes at a time. Danny Huston’s Colonel Houghton and Michael Rooker’s Sergeant Major Riordan get one good scene each. A wagon train under Luke Wilson’s Van Weyden trundles through with an English couple aboard, Ella Hunt as the wife, whose refusal to do their own chores is the film’s idea of comedy, and it is given about as much screen time as the Native characters. Tatanka Means and Owen Crow Shoe, as Taklishim and Pionsenay, argue over whether to fight the settlers at all. It is the film’s one attempt to look at the other side of the wagon, and it gets perhaps ten minutes.

Muro’s daylight work is what most critics have praised, and it earns it: the valley in long lenses, dust hanging in the light, riders small against rock. Derek R. Hill’s fort and mining camp look lived in, and Lisa Lovaas dresses the settlers in clothes that have been washed in rivers. John Debney’s score trusts none of this. It swells at every vista and again at every reunion, telling us we are watching an epic when the pictures had already said so. Wright’s cutting between the strands is the larger fault. The stories never touch, and each cut away arrives just as the scene we were in had begun to matter.

Around the two-hour mark we noticed we had started counting the storylines still open and wondering which of them the film meant to close. It closes none. We left not angry but unfed, and after three hours that is a complaint.

[*Dances with Wolves*](https://film.one/film/dances-with-wolves) (1990) was also three hours and also unhurried, and it worked because it had one man and one people and followed them to the end. *Open Range* had two men, a herd and a town, and it finished. *Horizon* has more of everything and less of a film.

If you are prepared to sit through a long first act, this is a well-made one, and it is better at home, in two sittings, which is how it seems to have been built. If you want a western that ends, Costner has already made two.

*Fi1m score 55, published 9 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

The reviews land in the middle and spread widely on either side, but nearly all of them make the same observation: this plays like the opening episodes of a television series rather than a film that stands on its own. Most critics find the storytelling shapeless, with too many threads, characters that stay as sketches and a first chapter that positions its pieces without moving them. The praise clusters on the same things each time: the landscape photography, the score, the extended siege sequence, and Costner himself, whose late arrival as a taciturn gunslinger several critics call the strongest stretch.

A few also object to how the Native American characters are drawn. The warmest notices, at NME and Deadline, hold that patience is rewarded and the ambition is real; the coldest, at IndieWire and the Los Angeles Times, call it a tedious vanity project. Almost everyone agrees the final verdict depends on chapters not yet released.

## Straight answers

**Is Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 worth watching?**

*Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1* is worth watching only for viewers content with three hours of a well-made opening act, and we scored it 55. Kevin Costner's western looks handsome and its night attack on the settlement is properly frightening, but it starts four stories and finishes none. Anyone who wants a western that ends should look elsewhere.

**How long is Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1, and what is it rated?**

*Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1* runs 3h 02m and is rated R by the MPA in the US. It is a western and drama film.

**Where can I watch Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 in the US?**

*Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1* is streaming on HBO Max, Hulu and Amazon Prime Video in the US, and it is also available to rent from Amazon Prime Video from $4.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How violent or frightening is Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1, and is it suitable for children?**

*Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1* carries a 15 certificate and is not suitable for children. The long night attack on the settlement, shot low among the settlers by the light of burning roofs, is the most frightening stretch, and a mother hiding her daughter under the floorboards while killers walk overhead will stay with younger teenagers. The rest is slower and less graphic.

**How does Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 compare to Heaven's Gate?**

*Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1* and [*Heaven's Gate*](https://film.one/film/heavens-gate) are both sprawling, handsomely photographed westerns about settlers and land that struggle to hold their stories together. Cimino's film is the more moving of the two and does at least arrive somewhere, while Costner's stops at the end of its first act. Choose *Heaven's Gate* for a finished film; choose *Horizon* if you plan to see the saga through.

**What should I watch after Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1?**

After *Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1*, try [*Heaven's Gate*](https://film.one/film/heavens-gate) (1980, Fi1m 79): Another sprawling, self-willed western about settlers and land; magnificent to look at and just as unwieldy. Then [*Meek's Cutoff*](https://film.one/film/meeks-cutoff) (2010, Fi1m 82): A wagon train film that finds real dread in slowness, thirst and a wrong turn; and [*The Proposition*](https://film.one/film/the-proposition) (2005, Fi1m 79): Australia’s answer to the frontier western, brutal and short, with landscape that means something.

### Reviews we read (28)

- **Slant Magazine**, Derek Smith (3/4): The critic finds it a stilted grand opus whose stories lack polish and dramatic momentum, with characters never developed beyond archetypes and editing that muddles the threads. It feels like a hacked-up TV season rather than a cohesive film, serving as a painful reminder of Costner's limits with sprawling epics. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/horizon-an-american-saga-chapter-1-review-kevin-costner/)
- **The AV Club**, B.L. Panther (B-): The critic sees it as a film of solid filmmaking and pristine landscapes that stakes out themes for future chapters but is mostly exposition without completion or handholding. The verdict hinges on forthcoming installments to determine if it succeeds as an epic saga. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/horizon-an-american-saga-chapter-1-review-kevin-cos-1851570395)
- **Little White Lies**, Isaac Feldberg (3/3/3): The review sees the first chapter of Costner’s self-financed epic as playing a little too much like prestige TV while still offering old-school charms. Costner’s personal earnestness and grit stand out as appealing elements. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/horizon-an-american-saga-chapter-1)
- **Radio Times**, James Mottram (3/5): Costner returns to the western with a leisurely three-hour drama that captures the era’s rhythms through strong ensemble character work and electrifying action set pieces. The portrayal of indigenous characters as villains is noted as a flaw, yet the film is praised for its handsome, evocative old-school style. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-74ppbp/horizon-an-american-saga-chapter-1/)
- **Time Out**, Dan Jolin (3/5): Costner’s ambitious western epic is watchable but convoluted and feels like the first episodes of a TV show. The handsome mounting, vast grandeur of the West, and tense extended action sequences are singled out for praise. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/horizon-an-american-saga-chapter-1-review-2024)
- **Empire**, Helen O'Hara (55/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a meandering three-hour epic that sometimes loses its way due to its vignette structure and lack of narrative purpose, but praises its handsome cinematography and strong performances as a throwback to classic Westerns. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/horizon-an-american-saga-chapter-1/)
- **RogerEbert.com**, Robert Daniels (35/100, inferred): The film is a chore to sit through as a standalone feature due to its slow start, disjointed storylines, and lack of memorable characters beyond a few. It succeeds better as setup for future chapters and in its sumptuous landscape photography. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/horizon-movie-review-2024)
- **IndieWire**, Ryan Lattanzio: The critic deems it the dullest cinematic vanity project of the century that flattens the American West. He portrays the sprawling epic as a jumbled, clichéd mess that makes one wish manifest destiny had never happened. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/horizon-an-american-saga-chapter-1-review-kevin-costner-1235006843/)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Katie Walsh: The sprawling epic is a massive boondoggle and excruciatingly tedious experience marked by haphazard storytelling and cartoonish characters. Costner’s self-funded passion project suffers from overindulgence and dated melodrama. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-06-27/horizon-american-saga-chapter-1-review-kevin-costner-western)
- **Screen Daily**: The first chapter is an over-stuffed western epic that offers beautiful shooting, period detail and a starry cast but suffers from an identity crisis with too many storylines that fail to engage. Costner’s late appearance as a taciturn loner and a promising gunslinger character are highlighted. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/horizon-an-american-saga-cannes-review/5193643.article)
- **Sight and Sound**: The critic finds the film an unashamedly old-fashioned western that lovingly excavates genre clichés, with its traditional approach forming part of its charm. A standout lengthy massacre and siege scene evokes classic John Ford westerns. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/horizon-american-saga-chapter-1-unashamedly-old-fashioned-western)
- **The Guardian**: The film is an unapologetically old-school western epic with handsome visuals and a stirring score that builds satisfying momentum through its multiple storylines. It is involving but inauthentic in its portrayal of Native Americans and the Old West. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/article/2024/jun/30/horizon-an-american-saga-chapter-1-review-kevin-costner-sienna-miller)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, David Rooney: The critic calls it a clumsy slog in need of narrative streamlining, with messy plot threads, inessential scenes, and characters that go nowhere. He praises the handsomely photographed landscapes and Costner's reassuring presence in a fitting role but finds the multi-branched narrative beyond the director's best efforts. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/horizon-an-american-saga-chapter-one-review-kevin-costner-1235902918/)
- **The New York Times**, Manohla Dargis: Costner’s big, busy western honors old-fashioned genre touchstones while complicating the myth of the American West through violence-haunted characters. It is decentered and earnest in its approach to history and settlement. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/27/movies/horizon-an-american-saga-chapter-1-review.html)
- **The Telegraph**: Costner has invented earnest, stately 'granddad cinema' that is humane, hopeful and full of crisply drawn characters and golden landscapes. Its full grandeur may not be realised until part two, but the vibes are warmingly moreish. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/review-horizon-kevin-costner-western/)
- **The Times**: This is a throwback to 1960s Cinerama blockbusters like How the West Was Won, with multiple interlinked stories and strong homages to classic westerns. Costner elevates his role as the gunslinger Hayes Ellison, making his scenes the film's strongest. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/horizon-an-american-saga-chapter-1-review-kevin-costners-tantalising-western-j3m0hd6n5)
- **Variety**, Owen Gleiberman: The first chapter feels like the setup for a TV miniseries rather than a cohesive standalone film, with shapeless storytelling and meandering anecdotes across multiple storylines. It has vivid moments and characters but jumps around too much without building impact. [Read](https://variety.com/2024/film/reviews/horizon-an-american-saga-review-kevin-costner-1236009206/)
- **Vulture**, Bilge Ebiri: The critic views it as a gorgeous, sprawling, at times moving blast of old-fashioned storytelling—like Dune: Part One for dads—but ultimately half a movie that sets up characters and stakes without delivering change or payoff on its own. Its stately pace never bores yet fails to work independently. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/article/review-horizon-an-american-saga-is-for-the-dads.html)
- **Deadline**, Pete Hammond (80/100, inferred): The critic views Costner's film as an impressive and ambitious start to an epic Western saga that delves into the complicated history of the American West and its Indigenous populations. He praises the depth in character studies and the promise shown for future chapters. [Read](https://deadline.com/2024/06/horizon-an-american-saga-review-kevin-costner-chapter-1-1235922965/)
- **NME**, James Mottram (4/5): The critic views it as a traditional gunslinging adventure from the master of yee-haw Hollywood that rewards patience with handsome vistas, thrilling action sequences, and characters likely to grow in significance. They single out the restrained gunslinging and rare moments of beauty amid the harsh frontier setting for praise. [Read](https://www.nme.com/reviews/film-reviews/horizon-an-american-saga-chapter-1-review-kevin-costner-3768922)
- **Film Stories**, Simon Brew (75/100, inferred): The critic admires Costner's patient, slow-building epic Western with brutal moments and beautiful visuals and score, but notes it feels mostly like setup for future chapters, with dominoes positioned but not yet pushed over. [Read](https://filmstories.co.uk/news/horizon-an-american-saga-chapter-1-review-kevin-costner-sets-his-dominoes-up/)
- **The Wrap**, Steve Pond (70/100, inferred): The review describes the film as a corny yet rousing and proudly old-fashioned epic Western with majestic visuals and score. It notes the sprawling narrative setup for multiple chapters but acknowledges its televisual rhythms. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/horizon-an-american-saga-review-kevin-costner/)
- **HeyUGuys**, Linda Marric (55/100, inferred): The film is a visually impressive endeavor that sets the stage for a larger epic, with strong performances in places, but is let down by schmaltzy and overly sentimental storylines, an episodic structure with some superfluous or cringe-worthy scenes. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/horizon-an-american-saga-chapter-1-review/)
- **Eye for Film**, Richard Mowe (50/100, inferred): Costner delivers traditional Western ingredients like stunning landscapes and colourful characters in this passion project, but the meandering narrative lacks strong story arcs to bind the ensemble, making it feel more suited to a TV mini-series. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/horizon-an-american-saga-chapter-1-2024-film-review-by-richard-mowe)
- **/Film**, Jeremy Mathai (5/10): The evocative filmmaking and throwback grandeur are highlights, but the film lacks emotional substance and feels like the most expensive trailer for a sequel ever made, stumbling as a standalone franchise-starter. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/1607679/horizon-an-american-saga-chapter-1-review/)
- **The Playlist**, Gregory Ellwood (C-): Despite some epic vistas, shootouts and strong ensemble performances, the sprawling three-hour film feels flat with no real end in sight, more like the first episode of a series than a self-contained movie. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/horizon-an-american-saga-chapter-1-review-kevin-costner-20240519/)
- **Consequence** (40/100, inferred): The critic largely agrees with the negative consensus on the film's tedious length and lack of emotional impact but highlights nine positive aspects, including its brisk pacing despite the runtime and strong visuals in places. [Read](https://consequence.net/2024/06/horizon-chapter-1-review-kevin-costner/)
- **The Ringer**, Manuela Lazic (35/100, inferred): The review finds the sprawling Western a technically efficient but unappealing series pilot that retreads old tropes without emotional investment or modern insight, feeling like a conservative relic glorifying manifest destiny. [Read](https://www.theringer.com/2024/05/24/movies/horizon-an-american-saga-chapter-one-movie-review-kevin-costner)

## Details

- **Director:** Kevin Costner
- **Director:** Kevin Costner
- **Screenplay:** Kevin Costner, Jon Baird
- **Story:** Kevin Costner, Jon Baird, Mark Kasdan
- **Cinematography:** J. Michael Muro
- **Editor:** Miklos Wright
- **Music:** John Debney
- **Production design:** Derek R. Hill
- **Costume design:** Lisa Lovaas
- **Producer:** Kevin Costner, Howard Kaplan, Mark Gillard
- **Cast:** Kevin Costner as Hayes Ellison; Sienna Miller as Frances Kittredge; Sam Worthington as Trent Gephart; Jena Malone as 'Ellen' Harvey; Abbey Lee as Marigold; Michael Rooker as Sgt. Major Thomas Riordan; Danny Huston as Col. Albert Houghton; Luke Wilson as Matthew Van Weyden
- **Runtime:** 3h 02m
- **Certificate (MPA):** R
- **Release (the US):** 28 June 2024
- **Genres:** Western, Drama
- **Budget:** $50 million
- **Box office:** $39 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLaYzHhHdok

## Where to watch in the US

- HBO Max: streaming, uhd
- Hulu: add-on, hd
- Amazon Prime Video: add-on, uhd
- Amazon Prime Video: rent $4.99, uhd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy $14.99, uhd

*Checked 2026-09-10.*

Also available in: AE, AT, AU, CA, CH, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, IE, IT, NL, NO, NZ, PL, PT, SE, TR, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *Lonesome Dove* (1989): The multi-strand frontier saga done properly, with six hours and endings for everyone.
- *Heaven's Gate* (1980), Fi1m 79: Another sprawling, self-willed western about settlers and land; magnificent to look at and just as unwieldy. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/heavens-gate.md)
- *Meek's Cutoff* (2010), Fi1m 82: A wagon train film that finds real dread in slowness, thirst and a wrong turn. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/meeks-cutoff.md)
- *Open Range* (2003): Costner directing at his leanest: two men, a herd, a town, and a finish.
- *The Proposition* (2005), Fi1m 79: Australia’s answer to the frontier western, brutal and short, with landscape that means something. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-proposition.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/horizon-an-american-saga-chapter-1