American Honey, the first movie set in the States by British filmmaker Andrea Arnold (Red Road, Fish Tank), finds the director working with some fairly ludicrous self-imposed hindrances: a largely untrained cast, Shia LaBeouf at his most methody-bedraggled, and a nearly three-hour running time. That she makes these all meld together beautifully feels like some kind of weird alchemy, really. Inspired by a New York Times article, the barely there story follows a Texas teen (the strikingly confident newcomer Sasha Lane) reduced to dumpster diving to get by. After catching the eye of a magnetic lost boy (a very good LaBeouf), she joins up with a van full of similarly ragged youths who travel the country selling magazine subscriptions door-to-door.

Read the full review. by Andrew Wright