Every once in a while, a piece of cinema comes along like an exciting breath of fresh air, a palate cleanser with just the right amount of everything it needs. “Americana” is one of them.
READ MORE: SXSW 2023 Preview: 25 Must-See Film & TV Projects To Watch
With calm confidence and a natural balance, writer-director Tony Tost strikes gold with this darkly comic crime thriller that hits every target it aims for. It’s an example of the genre that should if there is any justice, be held up as an example of exactly how to do it. The added magic is that he makes it look so easy when the reality is that it is anything but, and many others fail to manifest a fraction of what he does.
READ MORE: The 70 Most Anticipated TV Shows & Mini-Series Of 2023
Paul Walter Hauser plays Lefty Ledbetter, a big-hearted veteran living a simple life with simple pleasures who wants to love and be loved. Sydney Sweeney is Penny Jo Poplin, a mousy server at a small-town diner with big dreams and a speech impediment. Drawn together, they form a friendship. 
One day while at work, scribbling on a napkin, Poplin discovers details of a meeting that will take place at the diner about something that will bring big money. Together with Ledbetter, they carry out a stakeout and overhear Simon Rex’s Roy Lee Dean hiring two heavies, Dillon MacIntosh, played by Eric Dane, and Joe Adler’s Fun Dave, to steal the mythical and highly-prized Lakota Ghost Shirt, a sacred Native American artifact.
The heist goes wrong, and MacIntosh, now aware that the garment is worth a fortune, decides to keep the spoils for himself. He calls his girlfriend, Halsey’s Mandy Starr, and her son, Cal, played by Gavin Maddox Bergman, to pack their bags and prepare to leave the state. She sees it as her opportunity to escape. She heads off on her own, her son refusing to go as he feels he belongs there, believing he’s the reincarnation of a legendary Native American figure.
While Poplin and Ledbetter pursue Starr and the irreplaceable item with the idea of stealing it and seeing it to fund a new life in Tennessee, the young boy heads to find a new home with “his people.” When he connects with them, it quickly turns out they are starting to piece it all together after news of the heist spreads. Quirky Cal tells them where his mother is headed, and before too long, she’s got the self-proclaimed Native American equivalent of the Black Panthers, led by Zahn McClarnon’s Ghost Eye, and everyone else on her tail. In this crazy game of cat and mouse, none of them are ready for what lies ahead at their final destination. Like a Western, another component of the film’s DNA, this all plays out against an epic canvas of rural America, soundtracked perfectly by David Fleming.
There is no fat on this lean machine of a movie where every narrative cog is thoroughly, but never overly, oiled. While managing to feel like very much its own thing, the whole feels like an infusion of inspirations from “Bonnie and Clyde,” “No Country for Old Men” and “A Simple Plan” to the work of directors such as Robert Altman, Quentin Tarantino, and the Coen Brothers. Tost, who has also flagged Steven Spielberg’s “The Sugarland Express” as a significant influence here, directs his crisp dialogue like a conductor with an orchestra, brilliantly playing each character to their strengths, rising and falling in the narrative, but never losing any of them in the rich and layered melange.
As Ledbetter, Hauser continues to prove himself as one of the last decade’s most engaging and multi-talented character actors, pulling out another nuanced and natural performance that is instantly and consistently engaging. His pairing with Sweeney is inspired. A world away from what she delivered with her character in “The White Lotus, “she is beguiling and irresistible in a performance that brilliantly showcases her versatility. A true natural, Halsey was born to act. Her confidence as Mandy Starr is entirely justified as she fills this role as well as any seasoned pro, turning out a show-stopping debut. All three performances are gold.
The magic continues with Dane and Rex, two delicious douchebags in a pod, and two snakes who think they’re smarter than the other. Bergman as young Cal Starr is delightfully surreal and sublime, perfectly balanced and charming. McClarnon as Ghost Eye is the jewel in the crown. He gets and flawlessly delivers dialogue and monologues that are genuine high points in a film that successfully punches above its weight. Everyone brings their A-game. Every one of the film’s central characters is well drawn and so well served that “Americana” is a real treat from start to finish.
Tost’s level of skill when it comes to storytelling and characterization here rivals the likes of Tracy Letts, Martin McDonagh, and David Sedaris. Taking tropes and toying with them, carefully and creatively hitting social and cultural beats and concepts, there is a refinement at play that contemporizes and enriches the classic presentation of middle America and those who live there. The creative refresh of “Americana” adds much-needed light and shade to a familiar narrative making it feel unique. It’s alchemy. [A]
Follow along for all our reviews and coverage of the 2023 SXSW Film & Television Festival.