With such a massive undertaking as Horizon: An American Saga, it’s easy to think that Kevin Costner might be spreading himself too thin. But after a solid performance as Hayes Ellison and some clear direction for his leading actors, Costner has proven once again that he has what it takes to bring the Western masterfully to life. But despite how impressive Costner is as the leading man, there’s one star whose performance (and character) rises above the rest of the cast. If you also thought Jena Malone, then you’re in good company. Playing Lucy/“Ellen” Harvey in Chapter 1 of the American Saga, Malone shines in her immensely complex role, reminding us that there was more nuance to the mythic American West than we might’ve thought otherwise. It wasn’t all just cowboys vs. Indians; there were also single mothers trying their best to persevere through an often cruel world.
Jena Malone Is a Powerful Force in Kevin Costner’s Western
If there’s one thing that everyone can agree on concerning Horizon: An American Saga, it’s that the multipart, serialized Western epic has a seriously impressive cast. Pulling in stars old and new, Horizon doesn’t mess around with its enormous grouping of characters, each one as layered as the late 19th-century American West itself. But as one of the most important leads in Chapter 1, Jena Malone’s Lucy Harvey stands out as perhaps the most notable. While the vast majority of characters in the film are either traveling West in search of a new life or new possibilities, Lucy finds herself in the Wyoming Territory on the run from her messy past, a past that has yet to be fully disclosed. It’s this added mystery that gives Malone’s character a certain alluring presence, and makes us curious as to what Chapter 2 will eventually reveal about her. What we do know of Lucy is that she had a young son named Sam with a man named James Sykes (Charles Halford), a violent patriarch who nearly kills the woman after she first attempts to kill him while retrieving her son. As Lucy and Sam go on the run, Sykes sends his adult children after her to bring back his youngest child.
From that first explosive moment we meet Lucy in the Montana Territory, we’re instantly drawn to her. Her willingness to enact violence for the sake of her child (and potentially as a form of revenge) and to forsake everything she knows, including her own name (she goes by “Ellen” for most of the picture), is admirable. She exemplifies the sacred duty of motherhood while brutally opposing those who would stand between the freedom of her and her child. It’s through Lucy that we meet the Sykes brothers, Junior (Jon Beavers) and Caleb (Jamie Campbell Bower), as well as the young sex worker Marigold (Abbey Lee), who connects us with Horizon’s most bankable star, Kevin Costner’s Hayes Ellison. Without Lucy, one of Chapter 1’s most aggressive conflicts doesn’t come into play, and neither does the film’s most notable gunfight. To say that her character arc is the cornerstone of one of the Western epic’s most crucial plotlines would not be an understatement. Delivering a remarkable performance certainly doesn’t hurt Malone’s reputation here either.
Jena Malone and Sienna Miller Play Two Contrasting Sides of ‘Horizon’s Take on Motherhood
It’s also worth mentioning that Lucy serves as almost a foil to Sienna Miller’s Frances Kittredge, though the two never actually meet up on screen. Both women are fierce mothers who fight tooth-and-nail for the sake of their own children, each on different sides of the Wild West board. In fact, Frances watches helplessly as her husband and son are killed by a rogue band of Apaches, unable to do anything but ensure her daughter lives to tell the tale. But while she finds salvation in being rescued from the invading Indians by First Lt. Trent Gephardt (Sam Worthington), a man who she soon fancies, Lucy’s own beloved, Walter Childs (Michael Angarano), cannot protect her in the same ways. Instead, Lucy is forced to take drastic measures to ensure her son’s safety, with Chapter 1 conceding that she fails in her task.
To further contrast Horizon: An American Saga‘s two leading ladies, Walter is quickly killed by Caleb Sykes, while Lt. Gephardt continues to romance the widowed Mrs. Kittredge. In many ways, the death of Frances’ family — minus her daughter, Elizabeth (Georgia MacPhail) — leads to the potential for another, while Lucy remains completely and utterly alone after the Skyes brothers kill the only other person she loves. Even her son Sam, who Marigold and Hayes run off with in the picture, is so far from her that she has no idea what sort of fate is in store for him. Lucy and Frances’ stories couldn’t be more different, though their motives are remarkably similar. This is just one of many thoughtful examples throughout Horizon of the notion that equality of outcome was not a reality in the harshness of the American West. In the 19th century, everyone had to make their own way when it came to protecting those they loved, and not everyone made it out alive.
Jena Malone’s Lucy Is ‘Horizon’s Most Complex Character
In many ways, one might consider Lucy to be Horizon’s most conflicted character. On the one hand, she’s a strong woman who loses everything in her pursuit of motherhood. She is willing to risk anything, even death, for her son Samson, and takes every precaution to ensure his safety. On the other, she lives with Marigold, a woman notorious for bringing home every stranger she can, which only heightens Lucy’s own chances of being discovered by an unwanted party. It’s almost a wonder that the Sykes brothers didn’t find her sooner. Additionally, Lucy is shown early on to be proficient with firearms when shooting James Sykes, but then fails in her hysteric attempts to kill Caleb after he first kills Walter right before her eyes. While some might consider this inconsistent, it infuses a much-needed layer of emotional depth into Lucy that reminds us that, just like many of us on this side of the silver screen, she, too, is a complicated individual worthy of exploration. Rather than feeling like a traditional movie hero, she represents the historical realities of those struggling to survive the post-Civil War landscape.
Malone was perfectly cast for this part. The actress — who is best known for her roles in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Pride & Prejudice, and Sucker Punch — has a long history of playing complex women, and her part in Horizon is no different. In fact, Malone had previously worked alongside Kevin Costner in the History Channel’s Hatfields & McCoys miniseries where she played Nancy McCoy, one of the few McCoy women who married a Hatfield. This is likely how Malone first caught Costner’s eye, and it’s nice to see them working together again in another major historical production. Like her Hunger Games and Hatfields & McCoys characters, Lucy seems somewhat unassuming on the outside, but can spring into action at a moment’s notice. More than that, Lucy has likewise made enemies on all sides, and struggles under the weight of those pursuing her. Given her clear capabilities, we’re hopeful that we’ll see more to this side of the character in future Horizon installments — if they’re ever released, that is.
Perhaps the thing that makes Lucy Harvey so terribly compelling is also the same aspect that drove Malone to her in the first place. “For me, it’s like such a transformative way to see a woman,” the actress told MovieWeb in June 2024. “Kevin [Costner] really dials in this mother-wife character… it just feels very domestic and simple, but as the layers unravel, you realize the complexities and the survival mechanisms that are in operation.” In Malone’s mind, she considers Lucy something of a Western vigilante, one who is introduced in one of the most interesting ways possible. This leads us to believe that there will be a lot more to Lucy’s story than we know now, and that Costner has big plans for this Horizon character. It also reminds us that there’s probably even more to Lucy than meets the eye, and teases that Chapter 2 will dive a bit deeper into her complicated psyche than Chapter 1 had time for.
‘Horizon: An American Saga’ Promises More for Jena Malone in Future Installments
For Malone, the Horizon experience has been one of intense reflection. “I’m constantly thinking about how we settled this land and who my grandmothers were in those spaces,” she told US Weekly ahead of Chapter 1‘s premiere. “The more I learn about it and particularly, the women of that time, it feels like parts of me that have been wanting to be heard.” If Horizon does one thing particularly well, it is the way it handles its female characters. Costner tackles them with the same respect, and certainly the same prowess, as he does Horizon‘s male leads. Not only are they just as complex and grounded as their male counterparts (something many of the classic horse operas of old have been criticized for their lack of), but these women’s stories are also often more interesting. It’s not just gunfights and land disputes with them, but they literally represent the future of humanity, bringing a toughness to the West unlike any other. The notion that many of these ladies, like Lucy and Frances, would be willing to bring children into this harsh, war-torn landscape is a miracle in itself. Malone’s Lucy is a prime example of this, as she continues to fight and scrape for any little bit of living she can find in the pioneer-era mountain West, all for the sake of her son’s future. Thankfully, her story isn’t quite done yet.
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At the very end of the film, Horizon – Chapter 1 teases the next installment, Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2, by revealing quite a handful of clips spliced together with John Debney’s triumphant score. While we don’t see much of Lucy Harvey in these final moments (leading some to erroneously conclude that the Sykes brothers may have killed her), it is revealed through this footage that our heroine has survived to fight on another day. With Jena Malone confirmed to be returning for at least the second part of Kevin Costner’s four-part Western (and hopefully more, if they’re ever finished), it’s clear that this tale is just beginning. While things didn’t exactly end nicely for Lucy — she’s now separated from her son and has been captured by the Sykes family — we still have hope that her story will turn out for the better in the end. If anything, Horizon continues to remind us of the harshness of westward expansion, and how all peoples struggled aimlessly in the settling of the American West.
Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 is available for streaming on Netflix.
Chronicles a multi-faceted, 15-year span of pre-and post-Civil War expansion and settlement of the American west.
- Release Date
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June 28, 2024
- Cast
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Kevin Costner
, Sienna Miller
, Sam Worthington
, Luke Wilson
, Giovanni Ribisi
, Thomas Haden Church
, Jena Malone
, Abbey Lee
, Michael Rooker
, Danny Huston
, Isabelle Fuhrman
, Jeff Fahey
, Will Patton
, Tatanka Means
, Ella Hunt
, Jamie Campbell Bower - Runtime
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181 Minutes
