Horizon Chapter 2 is repeating Chapter 1’s biggest mistake

After Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2 premiered at the Venice International Film Festival, it’s clear that there’s one thing the new installment is desperately missing.

The road to Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2 has been as bumpy as a trail untraveled. As Kevin Costner continues to try and see his four-part Western saga through, there have been box office bombs, release date delays, and emotional declarations of commitment – and that’s all before the second movie has even come out.

But despite everything, Chapter 2 got its out-of-competition premiere at Venice Film Festival on September 7. The reviews were middling, and the response is tame, but above all, there’s now proof that Horizon still hasn’t learned its lesson.

Chapter 1 ended with the infamous and perhaps ill-advised decision to tack on a “next time on Horizon…” montage. And when I say “montage,” I’m referring to the several-minute long, bafflingly vague (yet spoilerific) preview of what was to come in the next movie.

Horizon’s blitz-style preview was a mistake

Whether that’s just Chapter 2 or the third and fourth films as well, we can’t say. The montage in question is ill-defined and almost poetic in nature, revealing fates of characters and teasing major new additions to the cast (Giovanni Ribisi gets a Thanos-style tease at the end), and the result wasn’t hype – it was confusion.

Now, the first reviews coming out of Horizon Chapter 2 all seem to confirm one thing: the sequel doesn’t recap the events of the first movie.

Warner Bros. Pictures

As per Variety’s review, “it would have been so much more useful to have kicked it all off with a quick recap of what happened in Chapter 1.” The Hollywood Reporter’s review was similar in critique, advising to watch the first movie ahead of time as “there’s no ‘last time on Horizon’ catch-up montage on offer.”

Granted, having a “previously on” reel isn’t a requirement in many, if any, motion pictures. But when you’ve got a saga of this size, with a cast this sprawling, and more storylines than a spider could weave a web out of, it doesn’t really make sense to let the audience go in without a quick reminder.

A montage is useful… when used correctly

A preview reel that gives away several major plot points of what’s to come in further movies is a spoiler at best, and a complete vacuum of anticipation at worst. 

Not only do we now know the fate of several main characters, but we’re expected to return to the theater, buzzing with excitement, when a bona fide sizzle reel has essentially fizzled out the question of what could happen next. 

The great irony is that, when it comes to Chapter 2, a “previously on” montage might have been a real asset. No, Horizon isn’t a complex Nolan-style telling of the American West, but there are more characters (most of whom it would be difficult to remember the names of) than you can shake a cowboy hat at and three hours’ worth of storylines to keep track of.

Warner Bros. Pictures

The June-August duel release for Chapters 1 and 2 might have helped avoid this problem, with the first installment being fresh in the viewers’ minds. However, with the release date for Chapter 2 having since been wiped off the slate in a hasty re-approach by Warner Bros., that logic no longer stands.

What’s more, if there are indeed going to be four of these movies (as Costner hopes), then there needs to be some sense of honesty between the movie and its audience. This isn’t a three-hour historical epic – this is a twelve-hour-plus telling of Costner’s most ambitious ideas about the West. If there was a small sense of, “Hey, this is a lot, so here’s where we’re at,” it would go a long way in aiding his vision.

Audiences aren’t stupid, but they aren’t geniuses, either

It’s refreshing when a director trusts their audience to get what they’re trying to articulate. The audience feels like they’re the smartest person to ever consume a movie, and the director comes off looking like a genius. Everyone wins! 

But there’s a big difference between trusting an audience will work it out and giving them the tools they need to work it out. Narratively, An American Saga is a simple undertaking. But the sheer scale and length of the subject demands patience and memory if there’s to be a grand payoff at the end. 

If the reviews are to be believed about Chapter 2’s catch-up status, then there’s reason to worry. It doesn’t bode well for the franchise’s future if the current mood is: “It’s too long, and I was confused.” 

Horizon hasn’t learned from its own mistake. An ending montage previewing what’s to come might be cool, but it’s not necessary. Audiences don’t want things spoiled; they want things to be clear (even if they have to be tricked into thinking it’s not.) 

In Horizon’s case, the lesson isn’t that montages are bad. In fact, it might have helped secure the proper mindset for the second part of this four-sided story. It’s just about using it to the movie’s advantage and not by attempting to force hype that, for Western fans, has always been there.

For more, check out our review of Horizon Chapter 1. You can also learn about all the Yellowstone cameos in Horizon, or check out all the best Western TV shows around.

Or, if you’re still devoted to Costner’s old world, check out everything that’s going on with Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2.