SummaryWhen a rare Lakota Ghost Shirt falls onto the black market in a small town in South Dakota, the lives of local outsiders and outcasts violently intertwine.
SummaryWhen a rare Lakota Ghost Shirt falls onto the black market in a small town in South Dakota, the lives of local outsiders and outcasts violently intertwine.
Taking tropes and toying with them, carefully and creatively hitting social and cultural beats and concepts, there is a refinement at play that contemporizes and enriches the classic presentation of middle America and those who live there. The creative refresh of Americana adds much-needed light and shade to a familiar narrative making it feel unique.
Tost’s film is charming, gritty, and all-round entertaining one that boasts gallows humor, compelling performances, and a big heart (plus lots of actual hearts being shot at and stabbed).
Told in five chapters and across multiple storylines, Tost’s first feature is an admirably weird and engaging odyssey that’s like Tarantino meets The Sugarland Express (with a healthy dose of Smokey and the Bandit). It’s brimming with ideas and winning turns, in particular Sweeney and Hauser, whose romantic chemistry is terribly endearing, and McClarnon as the deadpan-hilarious face of anti-colonialist vengeance.
While Americana doesn’t particularly reinvent the Western, Tost’s portrayal of characters driven by unfettered greed or justifiable need gives voice to often-ignored segments of society as they strive for agency and respect — an admirable quality in any narrative genre.