American Honey

Arnold doing her thing in America. It's a bit weird maybe to see a British director tackling American youth culture so head-on, but Arnold has a real knack for this kind of material, and she once again sculpts a pretty interesting picture with at least a handful of memorable scenes.

Arnold follows Star, a young woman stuck with an abusive family and three younger siblings to take care of. One day she runs into a group of travelling kids who move around and sell magazines for a living. She decides it's time for her to pack her bags and start living her own life, so she joins the group, and they're off to Kansas.

The soundtrack is pretty decent but a little on the nose, the aspect ratio is distracting (I get the reasoning, it just doesn't work for me) and the film can't really sustain its runtime. But there are also plenty of moment with beauty. The cinematography is fine, characters feel realistic and there are a couple strong performances to enjoy. A solid film, though not the masterpiece some make it out to be.