Americana review: Halsey steals the show in crime caper
Halsey has had a few small acting roles here and there – a cameo in A Star Is Born, a voice part in Sing 2 and a brief appearance in MaXXXine – but she finally gets her chance to shine with a substantial role in Americana.
Tony Tost‘s feature directorial debut, which has finally been released after a SXSW premiere more than two years ago, stars an interesting bunch of characters. There’s Lefty (Paul Walter Hauser), a hopeless romantic rancher who proposes to his girlfriends within weeks of dating, and Penny Jo (Sydney Sweeney), a waitress with a stammer who aspires to move to Nashville to be a singer. They overhear a plot to steal a very expensive Lakota artefact – a ghost shirt – and decide to intervene and take the money for themselves.
But it’s not quite so straightforward. There’s also Dillon (Eric Dane), the criminal tasked with the theft, his girlfriend Amanda (Halsey), a black market dealer named Roy Lee Dean (Simon Rex) and Ghost Eye (Zahn McClarnon), the leader of a militant indigenous group who wants the artefact in the hands of its rightful ancestors. Everyone wants the shirt and the money – but who will walk away with what in the end?
This Western-inspired crime thriller is divided into chapters presented in a non-linear fashion. I was immediately hooked from the first chapter because I couldn’t wait to find out what was going on and learn more about these characters. Eventually, the timeline becomes more straightforward as the characters converge at the same location, culminating in a brilliant showdown at the home of a cult-like family.
Each character brought something to the table, but I was particularly impressed by Halsey as Amanda, a badass who is not to be messed with. She has more screen time than I expected and turns out to be the main character in the ensemble. Amanda drives the second half of the story and Halsey steals all of her scenes. I also appreciated McClarnon and the way Ghost Eye confronts outdated misconceptions and stereotypes of indigenous people.
If Americana is anything to go by, Halsey needs to be in more acting roles. Great cast, fun movie.
On digital platforms now