American Honey

Andrea Arnold really loves filming, because once she starts, she doesn't know when to stop. The length of the film is indefensible, and the film should have been shortened by at least 50 minutes. But that is not the only offense I blame her for. Fish Tank once emotionally tore me apart, while American Honey evokes opposite feelings within me. It's like descending from a high tower straight to the bottom of the abyss. I am from a different generation, I listen to different music, I have a different view of the world and different ideals than the film's protagonists, but I don't see that as a fundamental problem. True, young Star feels to me more like a gang member who just kicked a homeless person rather than a girl experiencing her first romantic adventure and trying to fit into a strange hipster community - but so be it. Above all, I feel posing and incredibility from the film. I believed in the gang of assholes from Edinburgh in Trainspotting and their dirty deeds - it was a credible view of the Scottish drug scene, supported by personal experience. I don't even believe in even a simple greeting from this group of exemplary losers. The group leader could probably only manage to feed three street prostitutes from a caravan, while one-third of the subordinates probably wouldn't be able to sell even themselves in a trucker's parking lot, and the other would barely handle the position of a drug dealer in a bad neighborhood. The only real dealer among that bunch of people reeking of burnt tobacco and various other things was Jake - actually the only truly interesting character in the story (the one who doesn't lie, only sells, and manipulation is part of the job). However, if it weren't for the absurd runtime, I might consider giving it a weak third star, but the way that it is, I don't have a choice but to give it two. Overall impression: 40%. (05.03.2021)

An exceptional thing, no doubt. Spontaneous, explicit, naturalistic, with brilliant performances and superbly executed. It presents things not only through the script and dialogues but also through the camera and music, which is something that cannot be understated. I understand what the film shows, and it does it brilliantly, but it doesn’t add much more to that, and that's hard to stand for 163 minutes. After two hours, the handheld camera and the endless car ride become too much. It needed a thicker plot, not just a documentary depiction of the issue of teen outsiders with troubled values and lives. (08.01.2017)

I didn't have too high expectations for this film. I had a feeling it would be something pseudo-artistic, but in the end, I was glad I watched it because it's a film that comprehensively shows a different life than what we know. It may not be pretty, but it's definitely interesting to watch, even if you don't want to live like that. (27.02.2017)

The protagonist’s journey of self-discovery was covered in Andrea Arnold’s previous films, but in American Honey, it is written directly into the unconventional structure of the film for the first time and is manifested both by the choice of setting and the segmentation of the narrative by means of longer musical interludes, during which we enjoy the present moment with the protagonist and do not think about how the film (and the journey) will continue. Whereas Star’s inner liberation happens below the surface, the American landscape through which the protagonist and her companions travel undergoes a significant transformation. Through poetic shots of the setting sun and oil-field fires, we are – like Star – repeatedly pull out of the harsh reality of the lives of those who have who have nothing to lose, which is filmed with an unpleasant degree of detail. Unlike other female wanderers depicted in films, however, Star is not a defenceless figure preyed upon by men. She quickly masters the rules of market capitalism and begins to confidently offer what she has in order to get what she wants. Despite that, the matter-of-factness with which she repeatedly gets into strange men’s cars makes her nervous and raises within her the question of when she will pay for her trustingness. Though the expansive American plains across which the characters travel call for a widescreen picture, Arnold remains faithful to the narrowed academic format. Thanks to that, most of the shots are dominated by Sasha Lane, who also determines who and what we see. The pairing of the energetic protagonist with the movement of the camera gives the film an immediacy and liveliness that grow even stronger during the authentic erotic scenes and other moments when Star lets her instincts guide her. Despite its sensuousness, American Honey is also a merciless portrait of a country in which everything can be converted into a medium of exchange and where you can achieve your dream only if you sell yourself. 90% (11.04.2023)

American Honey is a cool road movie filled with freedom, spontaneity and learning about the “non-touristic” side of America. It doesn’t come close to achieving the emotional impact of the director’s Fish Tank and it has a very thin storyline, which will bore some viewers while pleasing others, as it avoids any plot clichés and remains a (crystalline) pure hippie feel-good movie. (12.10.2016)