American Honey (2016)

The review praises the scuzzy road movie for its raw vitality and non-professional cast, highlighting Sasha Lane’s magnetic performance and Arnold’s remarkable capture of roadside America.

The critic finds the film dazzling and Arnold’s best since Red Road. It mixes social-realist grit with natural beauty in a road movie about a young woman joining a travelling magazine-selling crew.

A captivating film that merges vérité and fiction styles through nonprofessional actors, expanding the medium with its magnetic realism. It singles out the remarkable performances of newcomer Sasha Lane and Shia LaBeouf for praise.

The critic praises Arnold's class-conscious road movie for its glistening portrait of American inequality and youthful energy, highlighting the beautiful cinematography and strong performances, especially Sasha Lane's naturalistic turn as Star.

The review describes a ravishing blend of feminine picaresque and musical that commits to loose narrative across its long runtime, constantly active and engrossing. It singles out the camera-magnetizing lead performance and specific details of home life.

The critic calls it a wild, rambling and astonishingly beautiful epic of the open road that deconstructs the romance of the journey while celebrating its heroine's incandescence. It notes patchy plotting and longueurs are intentional but may test patience.

The critic hails it as an exhilarating celebration of modern youth and a heady, intoxicating experience, praising Arnold's work with actors and the blend of hedonism with sharp vignettes.

Arnold excels at portraying youthful passion and deprivation through a newcomer’s eyes amid a chaotic road crew. The film is a little too long but held by Lane’s charisma, striking visuals and the intensity of young love.

The film is a structure-less but graceful road movie full of observational details and lyricism about young outsiders selling magazines across the US. It is original and rewarding despite its length and episodic nature.

The critic finds the film a sprawling, immersive portrait of America through the eyes of its young characters on a rambling road trip. It excels in making viewers connect deeply with the protagonists' experiences and emotions over its long runtime.

An immersive road movie about a teen runaway joining a traveling youth sales crew that is bound to be divisive due to its baggy length and lack of narrative incident, yet ultimately penetrating. It singles out the exhilarating use of music and startling nature images for praise.

The review finds the film a picaresque with ravening observation of American sights and insects, centered on an 18-year-old's road adventures. It notes the mashup of grime and epiphany becomes somewhat shtick-like, pulling the viewer in less sharply than prior work.

The critic praises the film's roaming, sensual road picture that probes American life through youthful recklessness and ignorance. It highlights Arnold's empathetic curiosity about her female protagonist's inner life amid a rambling narrative.

Sasha Lane is luminous and makes the film as the newcomer who joins the rowdy crew, but the nearly three-hour road trip lacks plot or closure beyond endless partying and music. The cinematography is remarkable but the focus on youth is ultimately thin.

The critic describes it as an ambitious but episodic and overlong experimental travelogue with terrific visuals, noting its energy but lack of narrative drive, and highlights the quasi-documentary feel and social themes.

The critic finds many extraordinary moments and energy in Arnold's road movie but notes it's flawed, overlong, patchy and rambling, praising the in-the-moment teenage energy and social commentary while complaining about lack of narrative drive.

A bombastic, drugged-out travelogue that aestheticizes poverty and indulges in unsubtle set pieces without much narrative accountability or analysis. It singles out the director's tactility and the cast's dynamism as partial strengths amid the flaws.

Arnold's empathetic, deeply moving masterpiece is a 163-minute odyssey through America's overlooked heartland, powered by raw performances especially from Sasha Lane and powered by empathy for the forgotten.

The critic hails it as one of the year's best, a wildly satisfying road picture and true original with gorgeous cinematography. They single out Shia LaBeouf's best screen role to date and the palpable chemistry with newcomer Sasha Lane.

The critic describes the film as utterly absorbing and intensely moving, a bold societal portrait of a vibrant, troubled America found through the eyes of its young characters. They praise the kinetic energy, the compassion for the misfits, and standout performances from the mostly non-professional cast, especially newcomer Sasha Lane.

Arnold distills the essence of youth into a glorious, propulsive, nectar-hued experience of aimlessness, love and music, with stunning imagery and Lane's riveting performance capturing its ephemerality and beauty.

The critic calls the film one of the year's great movies, praising its seductive yet rueful portrait of uninhibited youth and the fatalism of their world. They single out the striking photography in the 4:3 ratio and the lead performances, especially Sasha Lane's maturation and Shia LaBeouf's confident turn.

The review describes the film as a sensual and rapturous road trip that bursts with youthful energy and life from the opening scenes. It singles out the standout debut performance by Sasha Lane and Shia LaBeouf's career-best work as key highlights.

The critic finds a great movie buried in the overlong film, which overstays its welcome at nearly three hours. They praise Arnold's visual riches and caramel-hued compositions of faces and landscapes.

Arnold's road trip is full of passing vistas, lyricism, raw sex and emotions building a portrait of youths bonding to survive, with strong turns from LaBeouf and newcomer Lane, but the drifters fail to engage enough to sustain the marathon runtime.

The film teems with amazing shots thanks to Arnold's eye but the visual delights are not enough to hold the lengthy and ultimately tedious film together.