Kevin Costner’s New Western ‘Horizon’ Debuts At Cannes With a Long Ovation But Disappointing Reviews

Chapter 1 of Kevin Costner‘s Western epic Horizon: An American Saga made its debut at Cannes on Sunday (May 19), and while the Yellowstone star’s project spurred excitement from prospective moviegoers, the reviews are in — and several aren’t too pretty. The first installment, which currently boasts a meager 27% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer as a result of the 11 reviews already posted on the site, has been met with rather poor reception from critics.

IndieWire claimed the film “flattens the American West” and referred to the film as “the dullest cinematic vanity project of the century” in their review’s headline alone. In BBC‘s case, their review headline called the movie “a numbingly long, incoherent disaster.”

Many reviews noted that viewers don’t see Costner appear as Hayes Ellison until about an hour into the three-hour-long film. This is mentioned in the two-star review posted on RogerEbert.com, reads, which laments that “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,” the review continues.

Kevin Costner gets teary-eyed during the standing ovation for his film “Horizon: An American Saga” at Cannes. pic.twitter.com/ddOxeGUprm

— Variety (@Variety) May 19, 2024

The Guardian also issued the film 2/5 stars, and kicked off their review with the following: “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.”

While the outlet noted this film marks only the first installment, the review explained that Chapter 1 “somehow doesn’t establish anything exciting for its various unresolved storylines, and doesn’t leave us suspensefully hanging for anything else.”

The Hollywood Reporter deemed the film “a clumsy slog,” explaining that Chapter 1 “plays like a limited series overhauled as a movie, but more like a hasty rough cut than a release ready for any format.” The brief “bottom line” in the review summed up that the film is “in dire need of narrative streamlining.”

These sentiments were also iterated by Variety, whose review asserted that the film “feels like the seedbed for a miniseries,” explaining that “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.” While the outlet pinpointed that upon Costner’s delayed appearance in the film, “one feels the grounding so much of the film lacks,” they called Costner and Jon Baird’s script “shapeless.”

“A lot is going on all at once, but little of it coheres into anything substantive, let alone actually memorable or meaningful,” reported Collider. “Much of this is understandable, as this is the first of multiple films Costner is planning to make, but an opening film should still be able to somewhat stand on its own.”

While Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 have already secured their respective theatrical release dates, fans can anticipate a third and fourth installment, as Costner told Cannes attendees, “There’s three more,” per People. Costner told Deadline that production on a third film has already started.

Nonetheless, the reviews weren’t all completely negative. In fact, Costner received a lengthy standing ovation immediately following the film’s debut on Sunday. With respect to Chapter 1, Deadline concluded, “For Costner this is an impressive beginning, with the promise of more to come.”

Meanwhile TheWrap described the film as “big and bold and majestic,” citing the work of cinematographer J. Michael Muro and composer John Debney, but admitted that the film “can be corny.” Vulture claimed that the film’s “stately pace never feels boring, so it doesn’t feel like it should have been shorter,” but said that Chapter 1 “also doesn’t really work on its own,”

If you want to be the judge of that, you can head to theaters on June 28 for the release of Chapter 1, and head right back on Aug. 16 for Chapter 2.