Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 (2024)
12-month trend
12-month trend
Monthly article views
2025-09 to 2026-08
Several characters navigate the complexities of life in the Midwestern territories during the American Civil War.
The story
In 1859, at the San Pedro Valley of Southeastern Territorial Arizona, two separate parties of surveyors mark stakes to outline the homestead lots of a forthcoming frontier town, Horizon. Shortly after, a missionary named Desmarais discovers the surveying parties have been killed by a Western Apache war band and establishes the town. By 1863, the settlement faces a violent Apache raid led by Pionsenay, which leaves many residents injured or dead. As the United States Cavalry and Infantry arrive to assist the survivors, the residents must navigate the tensions of the frontier, the looming Civil War, and the complexities of land ownership and indigenous conflict.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 1859, at the San Pedro Valley of Southeastern Territorial Arizona, a missionary named Desmarais establishes the town of Horizon after finding a surveying party killed by a Western Apache war band. In 1863, the town is struck by an Apache raid led by Pionsenay. While the military assists survivors, a conflict of ideologies emerges between Lt. Gephardt and Colonel Houghton regarding indigenous land. Simultaneously, in the Montana Territory, a woman named Lucy (now Ellen Harvey) flees with her son Sam, only to be pursued by the Sykes brothers. They eventually settle in a railroad camp where the boy is left with a Chinese worker's family. Meanwhile, a wagon train including a British couple travels toward Horizon along the Santa Fe Trail. The film concludes with a montage of scenes from the upcoming sequels as flyers for Horizon are printed, featuring Giovanni Ribisi's character, H. Silas Pickering, as a teaser for the next chapter.
- First release year
- 2024
- Runtime (minutes)
- 181
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Kevin Costner
- Writers
- Jon Baird · screenplay; Kevin Costner · screenplay; Jon Baird · story; Kevin Costner · story; Mark Kasdan · story
- Cast and characters
- Kevin Costner; Sienna Miller; Sam Worthington; Will Patton; Jamie Campbell Bower; Giovanni Ribisi; Jena Malone; Abbey Lee; Michael Rooker; Danny Huston; Luke Wilson; Isabelle Fuhrman
- Genres
- Western; Epic
- Themes
- Manifest Destiny; Civil War; Indigenous Land Conflict
- Tone and mood
- Epic; Old-school
- Premise and plot tags
- Western; Period Piece; Epic
- Source material / true-story basis
- Original story
- Franchise connections
- Horizon: An American Saga
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics and underperformed at the box-office.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 49 · scale: 100 · review count: 47
- Awards and nominations
- Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature · Visual Effects Society Awards · 23rd · Nominated
- Production trivia
- Costner conceived the idea in 1988 and it spent 30 years in development hell.; Costner personally funded $38 million of the $100 million combined budget for the first two films.; The film was shot back-to-back with its sequel, Chapter 2.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
Your lists
Loading your lists…