American Honey (film)

American Honey is a 2016 British-American drama road movie written and directed by Andrea Arnold. It stars Sasha Lane, Shia LaBeouf, and Riley Keough. It is Arnold's first film to be set and filmed outside of the UK. It was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. At Cannes it won the Prix du Jury.

Plot

A teenage girl with nothing to lose joins a travelling magazine sales crew, and gets caught up in a whirlwind of hard partying, law bending and young love as she criss-crosses the Midwest with a band of misfits.

Cast

• Sasha Lane as Star
• Shia LaBeouf as Jake
• Arielle Holmes as Pagan
• Riley Keough as Krystal
• McCaul Lombardi as Corey
• Crystal Ice as Katness
• Chad Cox as Billy
• Garry Howell as Austin
• Kenneth Kory Tucker as Sean
• Raymond Coalson as JJ
• Isaiah Stone as Valium
• Dakota Powers as Runt
• Shawna Rae Moseley as Shunta
• Chris Wright as Riley

Production

Arnold began writing the screenplay in 2013 and it was first announced under the pre-production title Mag Crew at Film4's 2013 Cannes Film Festival party. Arnold became inspired by lives of American youths in "Magazine Crews" who travel the United States selling magazine subscriptions, an occupation that has caused controversy in the United States. In researching for the film, Arnold embarked on a road trip from California to Miami, Florida. In late 2013, Arnold was the Filmmaker-in-Residence at the New York Film Festival. During this time, she worked on the second draft of the script and used the opportunity to meet with potential casting directors.

In 2014, the film's producers and new title, American Honey, were announced. In 2015, Shia LaBeouf was cast in an unspecified role. In March 2015, casting took place in Oklahoma in preparation for a summer shoot. In early June, Arielle Holmes of the autobiographical film Heaven Knows What was reported to have joined the cast Arnold "street casted" by searching beaches, streets, and approaching drunk teenagers. Arnold discovered Sasha Lane, while she was on spring break with her friends, Lane felt her vibe and decided to audition for the film.

Filming

In May 2015, filming was reported in Muskogee, Okmulgee, and Norman, Oklahoma. In late May 2015, production was reported in Mission Hills, Kansas and areas of Kansas City, Missouri. and the police of Missouri Valley, Iowa reported that the film had recently shot in their city. On 9 June, production was taking place in Omaha, Nebraska and Grand Island, Nebraska. On 24 June, LaBeouf was hospitalized after being injured on set during filming in Williston, North Dakota. Filming wrapped on 2 July 2015. The film was shot over 56 days, in several states.

Release

In January 2016, A24 acquired distribution rights to the film. In May 2016, Focus Features acquired international distribution rights to the film. The film had its world premiere at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival on May 15, 2016, where it was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or.

Critical reception

American Honey received mostly positive reviews upon its premiere at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. Based solely on reviews from its premiere at Cannes, the film holds a 64% "fresh" approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 25 reviews. On review aggregator Metacritic, it holds a 77% rating indicating "generally positive reviews."

Guy Lodge of Variety was extremely positive, writing, "Part dreamy millennial picaresque, part distorted tapestry of Americana and part exquisitely illustrated iTunes musical, “Honey” daringly commits only to the loosest of narratives across its luxurious 162-minute running time. Yet it's constantly, engrossingly active, spinning and sparking and exploding in cycles like a Fourth of July Catherine wheel." Rory O'Connor of The Film Stage was likewise as positive, writing, "It's visually astonishing and often devastating, too. This might be the freshest film about young people in America since Larry Clark's Kids." Tim Robey of The Telegraph responded in his five star review, "You could also argue that this almost intentionally exhausting film is too much of a good thing. But there's amazingly little of it you'd want to live without." Eric Kohn of Indiewire was enthusiastic, writing that American Honey "proves Andrea Arnold is one of the best working filmmakers and finds a breakout star in Sasha Lane," and that "It's the closest thing to a magnum opus in Arnold's blossoming career." David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter called the film "A road movie without a map that nonetheless arrives at a worthwhile destination," and wrote, "The film works best as a poignant character study, observing Star as she settles into her independence and figures out who she wants to be, framed by a vast physical landscape that stretches socioeconomically from privileged wealth to squalid poverty. There's a wonderful intimacy in the way Arnold examines young women in her films."

Other reviews from the premiere were positive, but less so. Dave Calhoun of Time Out London called American Honey "a bold film, full of energy and spunk, but a patchy, half-formed, rambling one too" and awarded it three stars out of five. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian also awarded the film three stars out of five and wrote, "It's a film which drifts onward in search for an epiphany which doesn't quite materialise. It is indulgent, and features a scenery-chewing, furniture-smashing performance from Shia LaBoeuf. Yet there is much that is valuable in the film: a sense of mood and space, interesting ideas and a tense triangular dynamic between its chief characters." Jonathan Romney of Screen International wrote, "While American Honey exudes ample energy, this episodic piece doesn't muster much narrative drive over its daunting running time of two and three quarter hours. There's probably a stronger, tighter film in here, but fair game at least to Arnold in her commitment to following the winding back roads of filmic experiment rather than the well-mapped highway of storytelling."

The film won the Cannes Film Festival's Jury Prize, Arnold's third time winning the award, and received a special commendation from the Ecumenical Jury. American Honey was also placed on several publications's "Best of the 2016 Cannes Film Festival" lists.

External links

• American Honey at IMDb