The film follows a young woman who is addicted to heroin as she tries to get her next fix while roaming around New York City as she also contends with her on-again, off-again boyfriend who treats everyone like shit. It is a film that is really the study of a woman who is homeless and needing a fix where she deals with trying to scrounge money for her fix but also contend with her abusive boyfriend. The film’s screenplay by Josh Safdie and Ronal Bronstein is largely straightforward in its narrative yet it focuses on the life of Harley Boggs (Arielle Holmes) as she roams around the city while dealing with the coldness from her boyfriend Ilya (Caleb Landry Jones) to the point that she slashes her wrists in front of him where she goes to the hospital. Following her release, she continues to pursue Ilya but also befriends the low-level dealer Mike (Buddy Duress) by trying to get money and such as well as be around him to get her fix. Throughout the film, Mike questions why Harley continues to be around Ilya who is cold and abusive as he is reluctant to give her heroin though he has to do whatever to continue his business as well as feeding his own addiction.
The direction of Josh and Benny Safdie definitely has a raw quality to the overall presentation as if they’re showcasing everything on location in and around New York City through a form of cinema verite. Yet, it is a style that does give the film that realism it needed to showcase the grit and grime of Harley’s own lifestyle as she would often sit in a place with a sign needing money while would often take part in thefts at convenience stores. There are some wide shots the Safdies use to not just establish certain locations but also wisely avoid notable landmarks of the city by grounding the film in the streets where they use medium shots to play into the characters in certain spots. Notably a scene where Harley and Mike steal some mail to see if they can find something they can make money from as it play into the way junkies and dealers survive.
The Safdies also maintain this sense of desperation of how junkies live and go for their fix as the usage of close-ups play into that desperation including these shots of Harley on a bed with a pink neon light all over her. The film also showcases some graphic moments of violence such as a moment early in the film where Harley cuts herself in front of Ilya to prove her love to him as well as a fight between Ilya and Mike. It is among these moments that do feel real but also in Harley’s own blindness in her love for Ilya even though a lot of what Mike says about him is spot-on as it does play into this cycle of abuse. The third act doesn’t just showcase Harley’s own devotion towards Ilya but also some truths about Ilya as he is someone that can show love but it is only fleeting. Overall, Josh and Benny Safdie craft a mesmerizing yet harrowing film about the life of a heroin addict in the streets of New York City.
Cinematographer Sean Price Williams does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography as it is largely straightforward to play into the air of realism where it is shot with available light for many of its exteriors with bits of lighting for some of the interior/exterior scenes at night. Editors Benny Sadie and Ronald Bronstein do excellent work with the editing as it does have some style in its usage of jump-cuts and other straightforward cuts to play into the drama. Production designer Audrey Turner and art director Blake LaRue do fantastic work with the look of some of the homes that the characters crash at as well as a home where Mike lives in.
Visual effects supervisor Adam Teninbaum does terrific work with some of the film’s visual effects as it largely relates to a key moment late in the film that would play into something big. Sound mixers Evan Mangiamele and Benny Safdie do superb work with the sound as it play into the natural elements of the locations as well as how music is played on a location. The film’s music by Paul Grimstad and Ariel Pink, with additional pieces by Isao Tomita, is incredible for its eerie electronic score that play into some of the dark moments of the film with some somber pieces from Tomita as well as music from Burzum, James Dashow, Headhunterz, and Tangerine Dream for its soundtrack.
The casting by Eleonore Hendricks and Josh Safdie do wonderful work as it feature some notable small roles from Diana Singh as a woman who let Mike and Harley live at her home as long as they pay rent, Yuri Pleskun as a drug dealer named Tommy, Mike Patellis as Mike’s supplier Marcos who gives Harley a motorcycle ride, Aaron Keller as a Hasidic man who gives Harley money to get high, Benjamin Hampton as Mike’s friend Antoine, Eleonore Hendricks as Ilya’s friend Erica who would be a girlfriend to Mike during his break from Harley, and Ron “Necro” Braustein as a friend of Ilya and Harley in Skully who is hoping to help Harley out following her suicide attempt. Buddy Duress is amazing as Mike as a drug dealer who makes Harley his assistant of sorts while also giving her the fix she needs while also having issues with Ilya.
Caleb Landry Jones is brilliant as Ilya as Harley’s on-again, off-again boyfriend who is quite cold and verbally abusive towards her as he is also someone dangerous despite the fact that he does have some love for her. Finally, there’s Arielle Holmes in a phenomenal performance as Harley Boggs as a young heroin addict dealing with a tumultuous relationship as well as her own addiction where she deals with a self-destructive lifestyle and lots of uncertainty as there’s a raw nature to her performance as well as showcase the reality of how junkies live.
Heaven Knows What is a phenomenal film from Josh and Benny Safdie that features a great leading performance from Arielle Holmes. Along with its ensemble cast, gripping character study, raw visuals, and a hypnotic music score and soundtrack. It is a film that explore the life of a drug addict as she deals with trying to find a home and win back her boyfriend despite the fact that he’s cruel to her. In the end, Heaven Knows What is an incredible film from Josh and Benny Safdie.
Safdie Brothers Films: (The Pleasure of Being Robbed) – (Daddy Longlegs) – (Lenny Cooke) – Good Time (2017 film) – (Uncut Gems)
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(Winner of the Jury Prize at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival)
The film revolves around the journey of an 18-year old woman who lives in a poor and dysfunctional family with kids whom she isn’t related to until she meets a young and charismatic salesman who is part of a gang of misfits selling magazines to people all over the country as she joins them on the road. It is a film with a simple premise as it explores this young woman from a poor and abusive environment who takes this job to go on the road and sell magazines with a band of misfits who are also from poor environments as a way to make money and have a good time. Andrea Arnold’s screenplay, which is based on a New York Times article by Ian Urbania, explores this culture where these kids are dropped off in sections of rich neighborhoods trying to sell magazines and make some money while displaying their sales to a boss who is only concerned with making money.
The main character named Star (Sasha Lane) is someone that lives in a home with two kids who are her half-siblings to a father who is sexually abusive as they barely can live through scraps. During a dumpster dive to find food and get a few things at a nearby Kmart, Star encounters this group of young kids wreaking havoc as they’re lead by this young man named Jake (Shia LaBeouf) who offers Star a chance to go on the road with him. She meets an assortment of people as she rides on a van where they’re taken to a destination and running the whole thing is Krystal (Riley Keough) who oversees all of the sales and slips as she has Jake take Star under his wing to train her. Yet, an attraction between Star and Jake start to unfold due to the former’s approach to getting a lot of money made yet Krystal is wary about this relationship as it starts to affect the work of the latter. The script also play into these locations that is the American Midwest and areas that are rich and poor where Star is selling magazines as she would make money through her own ways but also do things that would create tension between her, Jake, and Krystal.
Arnold’s direction is entrancing for the way she captures the world of the American Midwest as it is shot on various locations in Oklahoma, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and North Dakota with some of its cities such as Kansas City and Omaha being major locations in the film. Shot on the 4:3 full-frame aspect ratio, Arnold maintains intimacy through the framing while playing to the visual splendor of these different locations that these characters are venturing into. The usage of hand-held cameras is prevalent throughout the film while Arnold knows when to use wide and medium shots for these scenes set in certain locations. The aspect ratio also plays into the claustrophobic and cramped tone of the van’s interior where many of the young kids including Star often ride in from location to location as there is an air of excitement of this next location as kids sing along to songs that is on the radio and such. Arnold’s direction also has this sense of looseness through the usage of hand-held cameras as well as a realism as everything is done on the fly in the way Star would interact with people and how she would get a sale made.
Some of which would involve having her do things she’s not comfortable with but there are moments that prove to be heartfelt where she converses with a truck driver (Bruce Gregory) as it shows that Star isn’t willing to compromise her humanity to make a sale like everyone else has to do. Despite the money she makes, she still gets disapproving looks from Krystal while Jake becomes possessive towards her as some revelations occur during the film’s third act as it relates to Jake’s role that makes Star uneasy. It all plays into a cycle for these young kids who all play a role for a young woman who does what she can to make money as the third act also show how low Krystal would push her crew to make sales. Its ending is an open-ended one as it play into not just Star’s future but also these kids who don’t know what is going to happen to them as they all do what they can to just live. Overall, Arnold crafts a rapturous and intoxicating film about an 18-year old girl joining a band of misfits on a road trip to sell magazines and much more to live the American dream.
Cinematographer Robbie Ryan does incredible work with the film’s cinematography as its emphasis on natural lighting and using available light for scenes at night add to the film’s realistic tone while maintaining a sense of beauty into the photography. Editor Joe Bini does amazing work with the editing with its stylish usage of jump-cuts to play into the energy of some of the music heard on location as well as play into the chaos of the lifestyle of these kids. Production designer Kelly McGehee, with set decorator Graham Wichman and art director Lance Mitchell, does excellent work with the look of the van as well as some of the motels and homes the kids would live in as well as the homes of some of the people they try to deal with. Costume designer Alex Bovaird does fantastic work with the costumes as it has a sense of style that play into the lives of these young kids as they largely wear baggy or skimpy clothing depending on how they present themselves to the people they’re trying to sell magazines to.
Makeup designer Anouck Sullivan does nice work with the look of Star and Krystal with the former looking natural and sometimes putting stickers on her face while the latter is often seen sporting lots of makeup as a form of power play. Sound editor Nicolas Becker does brilliant work in capturing much of the recorded material as well as the way conversations would sound inside the van or how music is played on location. Music supervisor Simon Astall does superb work with the film’s music soundtrack as it largely features a lot of the music of the late 2010s that kids listen to ranging from hip-hop and country as it features music from Juicy J featuring Wale and Trey Songz, Quigley, Rhianna with Calvin Harris, MadeinTYO, Sam Hunt, Lee Brice, Kevin Gates, Jeremih, E-40, Ciara featuring Ludacris, Rae Sremmund, Carnage featuring Migos, Lapsley, OG Maco, Raury, and Lady A as well as pieces from Steve Earle, Mazzy Star, Bruce Springsteen, and the Raveonettes.
The casting by Lucy Pardee and Jennifer Venditti is marvelous as it features an ensemble cast of non-actors, unknowns, and up-and-comers in some notable small roles that include Johnny Pierce II as Star’s sexually-abusive father Nathan, Brody and Summer Hunsaker in their respective roles as Star’s step-siblings Rubin and Kelsey, Chastity Hunsaker as Rubin and Kelsey’s neglectful stepmother, Bruce Gregory as a truck driver that Star befriends and sings a Suicide song covered by Bruce Springsteen, Laura Kirk as a Christian housewife whose daughter is doing sexually-provocative dance moves in front of Jake and Star during a sale, and Will Patton as a man that Star wins over to buy her magazines. The performances of the following in Veronnikah Ezell, Christopher David Wright, Shawna Rae Moseley, Dakota Powers, Isaiah Stone, Raymond Coalson, Kenneth Kory Tucker, Garry Howell, Chad McKenzie Cox, Crystal B. Ice, McCaul Lombardi, and Arielle Holmes are incredible as these young kids who become friends with Star as they have this charisma and energy about them as it adds to the realism of their performances as they are a highlight of the film.
Riley Keough is excellent as Krystal as the business manager and organizer of this rag-tag group of kids trying to sell magazines as she is someone that knows a lot on what to do but is also cruel in what she does to the young kids at times with a bigger disdain towards Star who she sees as a threat in getting Jake’s attention. Shia LaBeouf is brilliant as Jake as a veteran salesman with a rattail hairstyle that play into his unconventional presentation yet is someone that has charisma but also a dark side to him in the way he becomes possessive towards Star as well as be someone that is immoral at times in the way he tries to sell magazines to people. Finally, there’s Sasha Lane in a phenomenal performance as Star as an 18-year old kid from the white trash area of Oklahoma trying to find herself and meaning in her young life as she goes on the road with this band of misfits where she learns how to be salesperson but also find ways to make some good money but also maintain some morality and dignity. Lane also maintains this air of tenderness but also someone that is always having fun but also can do so much when she doesn’t say anything as it is a tremendous breakthrough performance from Lane.
American Honey is a tremendous film from Andrea Arnold that features an incredible discovery in Sasha Lane. Along with its ensemble cast, dazzling visuals, an emphasis on realism and grit, an eclectic music soundtrack, and its themes of trying to find identity and hope in the idea of the American dream. The film is truly an astonishing portrait of the American life as it explore a group of people who live on the fringes of society trying to do things their own way but also deal with this sense of the unknown in a world that is often ever-changing. In the end, American Honey is a magnificent film from Andrea Arnold.
Andrea Arnold Films: Red Road - Fish Tank - Wuthering Heights (2011 film) - Cow (2021 film) - Bird (2024 film) - (Featherwood) – The Auteurs #31: Andrea Arnold
© thevoid99 2021
