| American Honey | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Andrea Arnold |
| Written by | Andrea Arnold |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Robbie Ryan |
| Edited by | Joe Bini |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 163 minutes[2] |
| Countries | United Kingdom United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3.5 million[3] |
| Box office | $2.3 million[4] |
American Honey is a 2016roaddrama film written and directed byAndrea Arnold, and starringSasha Lane,Shia LaBeouf, andRiley Keough. The film follows Star (Lane), a young girl from a troubled home, who runs away with a traveling sales crew who drive across theAmerican Midwest selling magazine subscriptions door to door.Principal photography began in May 2015 with filming taking place in several states across America. It is Arnold's first film to be set and filmed outside of the United Kingdom.
The film was selected to compete for thePalme d'Or at the2016 Cannes Film Festival where it won theJury Prize.[5][6][7]American Honey received positive reviews, with praise for Arnold’s direction, Lane's performance, and Ryan’s cinematography. The performances of LaBeouf and Keough also received critical praise. The film was released in the U.S. on 30 September 2016, byA24 and in the UK on 14 October 2016 byFocus Features andUniversal Pictures. For the70th BAFTA Awards,American Honey received a nomination forBest British Film.
Star is living inMuskogee,Oklahoma. She lives a painful life, caring for two children that are not hers and living with their sexually abusive father, Nathan. While trying to hitchhike home one day, she spies a van full of young people and makes eye contact with Jake, one of the boys in the group. Star follows them to a localKmart and sees Jake dancing to "We Found Love" on top of the registers before being escorted out by security. Star returns Jake's phone, as it had fallen out of his pocket, and he offers her a job as part of their magazine sales crew, telling her to come with him toKansas City. Star declines but Jake nevertheless tells her to meet them in the parking lot of the localMotel 6 the next morning.
Packing her belongings while Nathan is in another room, Star secretly escapes and takes the children to the club where their stepmother Misty dances. Star confronts Misty and tells her it's her turn to care for the kids, and though Misty refuses, Star runs away from the club to the motel and sleeps outside the crew's van until morning.
Star is interviewed by the crew's leader, Krystal, who hires her after she establishes that Star is a legal adult, that no one will miss her, and that she promises to work hard. In the car on the way to Kansas, Star meets the other members of the crew. When they get there, they are to work in pairs. Star is paired with Jake, the veteran of the group, to be trained. Star upsets potential customers because she disapproves of Jake's behaviour. Jake lies, shows he has a gun, although he doesn't really know how to use it, and he steals a ring from one of the houses. But Star is attracted to Jake, flirting with and eventually kissing him. That night, Krystal calls Star in and tells her that Jake has posted his lowest sales ever. Krystal then has Jake put tanning lotion on her body as Star watches, and Star promises to improve.
The following day, annoyed by Jake, Star vows to outsell him. Star is picked up by three strangers in cowboy hats, who offer to help her, thinking she is being harassed by Jake. The trio bring her to their home and offer to buy several subscriptions if she eats the worm at the bottom of a bottle ofmezcal. Star does, and makes the sale. Jake, however, fearing the worst, arrives and threatens the men with a gun before stealing their car. Initially angry at Jake, Star is later touched that he came to find her, and the two have sex in the car. When they return to the hotel for the evening, Jake tells her not to mention their relationship, and he gives the money Star earned to Krystal.
For a while, things between Jake and Star are tense, and Krystal threatens to drop her on the side of the road if she keeps causing trouble. The crew ends up living temporarily in a rundown house, and Jake and Star renew their relationship. Star asks him what his dreams are, and he shows her his private stash of cash and items he's stolen from the houses he visits, which he intends to use to buy a home.
Krystal dumps the girls off where oil workers are about to go to work in the morning. Star climbs in the back of their truck and tries to sell to them, but one of the oil workers tells her he'll pay her five hundred dollars to go on a 'date' with him. Star asks for a thousand dollars and meets him when he gets off work, but although the encounter is sexual he barely touches her. After the guy drops her off, she hears Jake fighting. Shortly after, a bloodied Jake asks if she slept with the man. Star just asks, "what do you care?". Jake gets angry, smashing things before taking off on a stolen motorbike.
The following morning, the crew get in the car and there is a new girl there, while Jake is missing. Krystal calls Star to her room and informs her she has let Jake go, that she paid him money for each girl he recruited, and that he slept with all of them. Krystal later takes them to a poor area inRapid City, South Dakota to sell subscriptions. Star enters a house and meets several affable children whose mother is on drugs. As Star's own mother died of a meth overdose, she feels sympathetic toward them and goes out to buy them groceries. At the pickup that day, Jake is in the van, and Star is confused as to whether to be happy to see him or not.
That evening, the crew light a bonfire. Dancing around the fire, Star is pulled aside by Jake, who hands her a turtle. Star takes it to the edge of the water and releases it before following the turtle into the water. She immerses herself fully, long enough for the viewer to think she may not come up, before dramatically rising up out of the water. There is no conclusion.
Arnold began writing the screenplay in 2013 and it was first announced under the pre-production titleMag Crew atFilm4's2013 Cannes Film Festival party.[8][9] Arnold has said the movie was inspired[10][11] by an investigative piece she read inThe New York Times about mag crews.[12] The film was optioned fromThe Times andIan Urbina in 2008. 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.[13][12][14] In researching for the film, Arnold embarked on a road trip fromCalifornia toMiami, Florida. In late 2013, Arnold was the Filmmaker-in-Residence at theNew 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.[13][15]
In 2014, the film's producers and new title,American Honey, were announced.[16]
In March 2015, casting took place in Oklahoma in preparation for a summer shoot.[17] Arnold "street cast" by searching beaches, streets, and approaching drunk teenagers.[18] Casting directors Lucy Pardee and Jennifer Venditti also scoured public areas such asWalmart, bars, anddollar stores to scout individuals that would fit the roles of the mag crew youths.[19] Arnold said she would scout places with individuals that a mag crew recruiter would find intriguing.[20]
Arnold discoveredSasha Lane while she was on spring break with her friends; Lane decided to audition for the film and was cast in the lead role.[21][22][23][24] The remainder of the cast were found in parking lots, construction sites, streets, and state fairs.[25][26][27] In April 2015,Shia LaBeouf was cast in an unspecified role.[28] In early June,Arielle Holmes was reported to have joined the cast.[29]
| External audio | |
|---|---|
 Filmmaker Andrea Arnold On 'American Honey' And Preserving Mystery In Film, 20:42, 29 September 2016,Fresh Air withTerry Gross[30] |
In May 2015, filming was reported inMuskogee,Okmulgee, andNorman, Oklahoma.[31][32][33] In late May 2015, production was reported inMission Hills, Kansas, and areas ofKansas City, Missouri,[34][35] as well asMissouri Valley, Iowa.[36] The pool scene was filmed at a private residence inBennington, Nebraska.[37] On 9 June, production took place inOmaha, Nebraska andGrand Island, Nebraska.[38] On 24 June, LaBeouf was hospitalized after being injured on set during filming inWilliston, North Dakota.[39] Filming wrapped on 5 July 2015.[40][41] The film was shot over 56 days, in several states.[11]
As with Arnold's filmFish Tank, the process of filming was a combination ofimprovisation and scripted scenes.[42] As shooting time was limited and the film was shot on the road, Arnold filmed unscripted interactions in the van to add to the naturalism of the film.[27][42]
The film's soundtrack consists of 19 songs and features a mix of genres such aship hop (specificallytrap music),country, andpop rock. The songs were compiled by producer Julia Oh, music supervisors Earworm Music, Andrea Arnold, and the film's cast.[43] The soundtrack was released digitally byUMe on September 30, 2016.[44]
According to music criticRobert Christgau, the film's soundtrack album went "unheralded" but "makes a single living thing ofRae Sremmurd andthe Raveonettes,E-40 andSteve Earle as the must-see Andrea Arnold flick it's attached to follows a troupe of young magazine-subscription hustlers across flyover country more humane than its taste in presidents might lead cineastes to believe." In a decade-end list, Christgau named it the third-best album of the 2010s.[45] The film derives its title from "American Honey", a 2010 hit single by Americancountry music groupLady A, that is sung along to by the sales crew in a pivotal scene.[43][46]
| American Honey (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Various artists | |
| Released | September 30, 2016 |
| Genre | |
| Length | 1:13:13 |
| Label | UMe |
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Robert Christgau | A[47] |
Other songs featured in the film but not included in the soundtrack are:[48]
In January 2016,A24 acquired distribution rights to the film.[49] In May 2016,Focus Features, where the film was initially in development under its original title, re-acquired most international distribution rights to the film, releasing it through its parent companyUniversal Pictures.[1] The film had its world premiere at the2016 Cannes Film Festival on 15 May 2016, where it was selected to compete for thePalme d'Or.[5][6] The film also screened at theToronto International Film Festival on 8 September 2016,[50][51]Fantastic Fest,[52] and theBFI London Film Festival on 7 October 2016.[53]
American Honey was theatrically released in the United States on 30 September 2016[54] and on 14 October in the United Kingdom.[55][56]
American Honey received mostly positive reviews upon its premiere at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.[57][58][59] The film holds an 80% approval rating onreview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, based on 215 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "American Honey offers a refreshingly unconventional take on the coming-of-age drama whose narrative risks add up to a rewarding experience even if they don't all pay off."[60] On review aggregatorMetacritic, it holds an 80 out of 100 rating, based on reviews from 41 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[61]
American Honey was also placed on several publications's "Best of the 2016 Cannes Film Festival" and "Best of the 2016 Toronto Film Festival" lists.[62][63][64]Variety placed Sasha Lane's performance in the film at number 3 on their list of the 9 breakout performances of the2016 Toronto Film Festival.[65] The film won the2016 Cannes Film Festival'sJury Prize,[7] and received a special commendation from itsEcumenical Jury.[66] This is Arnold's third time winning the Jury Prize, afterRed Road in 2006 andFish Tank in 2009.
Guy Lodge ofVariety 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."[67] Eric Kohn ofIndiewire was enthusiastic, writing thatAmerican 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."[68] David Rooney ofThe 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."[69]
| Award | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alliance of Women Film Journalists | Best Woman Director | Andrea Arnold | Nominated | [70][71] |
| Best Woman Screenwriter | Andrea Arnold | Nominated | ||
| Best Breakthrough Performance | Sasha Lane | Nominated | ||
| Bravest Performance | Sasha Lane | Nominated | ||
| Austin Film Critics Association | Breakthrough Artist Award | Sasha Lane | Nominated | [72][73] |
| Black Reel Awards | Outstanding Actress | Sasha Lane | Nominated | [74] |
| Outstanding Breakthrough Performance, Female | Sasha Lane | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Independent Film | American Honey | Won | ||
| British Academy Film Awards | Best British Film | Andrea Arnold,Lars Knudsen, Pouya Shahbazian and Jay Van Hoy | Nominated | [75] |
| British Independent Film Awards | Best British Independent Film | American Honey | Won | [76] |
| Best Director | Andrea Arnold | Won | ||
| Best Actress | Sasha Lane | Won | ||
| Best Actor | Shia LaBeouf | Nominated | ||
| Best Screenplay | Andrea Arnold | Nominated | ||
| Best Technical Achievement | Robbie Ryan (cinematography) | Won | ||
| Cannes Film Festival | Palme d'Or | Andrea Arnold | Nominated | [77][78] |
| Jury Prize | Andrea Arnold | Won | [79][80] | |
| Dorian Awards | Unsung Film of the Year | American Honey | Nominated | [81] |
| Empire Awards | Best Female Newcomer | Sasha Lane | Nominated | [82] |
| Best Director | Andrea Arnold | Nominated | ||
| Evening Standard British Film Awards | Best Film | American Honey | Nominated | [83] |
| Technical Achievement | Robbie Ryan (cinematography) | Nominated | ||
| Florida Film Critics Circle | Best Ensemble | The cast ofAmerican Honey | Won | [84] |
| Gotham Awards | Breakthrough Actor | Sasha Lane | Nominated | [85] |
| Independent Spirit Awards | Best Feature | American Honey | Nominated | [86] |
| Best Director | Andrea Arnold | Nominated | ||
| Best Female Lead | Sasha Lane | Nominated | ||
| Best Supporting Female | Riley Keough | Nominated | ||
| Best Supporting Male | Shia LaBeouf | Nominated | ||
| Best Cinematography | Robbie Ryan | Nominated | ||
| London Film Critics Circle | Film of the Year | American Honey | Nominated | [87] |
| British / Irish Film of the Year | American Honey | Nominated | ||
| Supporting Actor of the Year | Shia LaBeouf | Nominated | ||
| Supporting Actress of the Year | Riley Keough | Nominated | ||
| Technical Achievement | Robby Ryan (cinematography) | Nominated | ||
| Los Cabos International Film Festival | Premio Cinemex | Andrea Arnold | Won | [88] |
| Stockholm International Film Festival | FIPRESCI Award | Andrea Arnold | Won | [89] |
| Women Film Critics Circle | Best Young Actress | Sasha Lane | Nominated | [90] |
| Adrienne Shelly Award | American Honey | Won |
