Kevin Costner’s dream project, Horizon: An American Saga, might have received a 10-minute long standing ovation at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, but critics were not as impressed. After the film’s premiere, their reviews were much more critical.
Horizon is the first entry in Costner’s audacious but risky four-movie gamble. The writer-director-actor revealed in his latest interview with Collider that he worked on this story for over 34 years. The film has been made on a staggering budget of $90 million, out of which $38 million was spent by Costner himself. The veteran reportedly leveraged one of his houses to finance his passion project.
Most of the critics have pointed out the lack of cinematic feeling in ‘Horizon’. Instead, the film feels like a slow-paced TV series. In addition, the plot looks jumbled as the movie jumps between four key storylines, leading some to believe the project would have been better suited as a limited series.
In over 78 years of its existence, the one thing the Cannes Film Festival has taught us is not to trust the prolonged standing ovations. Long-standing ovations at the festival do not mean that the film is a magnum opus or outstanding in every way. While they can generate buzz and play a role in marketing, recent years have shown that a Cannes standing ovation might not guarantee a masterpiece.
Cannes is a major film industry event, which is why certain studios or filmmakers manage to receive support from viewers at the event, even if their projects are not universally adored. Plus, viewers’ respect for popular or iconic filmmakers is a factor too. Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis is the epitome of this scenario. While it garnered a thunderous 7-minute ovation at the festival, critics unleashed a barrage of negative reviews upon returning to their hotels.
Kevin Costner’s Horizon: An American Saga (Chapter 1) will arrive in theatres globally on June 28, 2024. Stay tuned for more updates.