Teen ‘coming of age’ films don’t come much cooler and sexier than American Honey. In fact, I don’t think I was the only one who left the screening searching for the soundtrack to delve back into that sunkissed, Instagram-filtered, hormone-crazy world.
British director Andrea Arnold presents a curious phenomenon as the film’s subject – youngsters working as travelling magazine salespeople (‘only in America’, you might say). She immersed herself in this nomadic world, examining the often troubled backgrounds of the workers and as such, cast mostly unknown kids with no acting experience but tons of appeal.
Newcomer Sasha Lane was discovered by Arnold on Panama City Beach, Florida, and takes the lead as rebellious ingenue Star. Her life in Texas is poverty-stricken and hopeless, caring for her unruly siblings and trying to fend off the advances of her grabby step-father while her absent mother is out line-dancing. At a supermarket, set to Rihanna’s We Found Love, her eyes meet with Jake (Shia LaBeouf) and he asks her to join his crew on the road to Kansas City.
Star then becomes the new girl on a minibus full of grungy stoner kids shouting along to hip hop who turn out to be an unlikely-looking magazine sales crew. Top dog of this pyramid scheme is Krystal (Riley Keough), a formidable, gorgeous yet trashy ice queen suspicious of new recruits. She takes the lion’s share of their earnings, handling logistics like picking lucrative destinations and sorting out cheap motel each night, but rides separately in a convertible with her ‘top seller’ Jake.
Star is expected to pull her weight from day one and shadows Jake on his doorstep sales pitches in a suburban middle-class neighbourhood. She’s sassy and far from a natural, sabotaging one of his sales, as she disagrees with his lying methods. However, a flirty and teasing relationship develops and Jake gives her little presents to keep her onside.
In one town, Star goes rogue and accompanies a group of rich old white guys to their remote house with an outdoor swimming pool for mezcal and barbecued meat. Despite a whiff of impending danger, the men are simply friendly towards Star and buy some of her magazine subscriptions. Unaware, Jake storms the house with a gun, threatening the guys, and Star begins to see the darker side of his involvement with the group.
They have hot sex in fields and cars, but Jake warns her that their relationship can’t be public for fear of vexing Krystal or causing drama in the group. As they move from town to town, Star becomes more reckless and agrees to meet an oil field worker after-hours for $1000. It’s not exactly the night of his life and likely made him feel more lonely than before, but it blurs the boundaries of what she’s willing to do for cash.
Jake sees her coming back to the group’s temporary house after the encounter and goes nuts, accuses her of sleeping with the guy. After a dressing down from Krystal, who gives her some home truths about Jake, Star is awkwardly relegated to just another girl on the bus and is replaced with fresh new meat.
The travelling lifestyle has taken its toll on Star and her friend Pagan and it begins to feel repetitive and still far from her dream of country life with a home and family. The ending is pretty open-ended, but it feels like a rebirth for Star, as though change is on the horizon.
American Honey is a euphoric journey through America’s heartland that may leave you feeling nostalgic for your teenage years when anything felt possible and the future felt so far-off. There are echoes of Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers and Gus Van Sant’s early films in its depiction of hard-partying, nihilistic youth. With the tension and disillusionment in the world right now, you can’t blame them for taking to the road and rejecting a conventional life, even if their dysfunctional pack comes with its own problems.
American Honey is showing on Tuesday 11th October at Odeon Leicester Square as part of BFI London Film Festival 2016.
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