(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)) – The Auteurs #31: Andrea Arnold
© thevoid99 2021
Based on the novel by Emily M. Danforth, The Miseducation of Cameron Post is about a teenager who is sent to a gay conversion therapy center after her religious aunt learns about an incident where she is caught having sex with another girl. Directed by Desiree Akhavan and screenplay by Akhavan and Cecilia Frugiuele, the film is an exploration of the world of gay conversion therapy centers as it is set in the early 1990s at a time when the LGBT movement was becoming more open. Starring Chloe Grace Moretz, John Gallagher Jr., Sasha Lane, Forrest Goodluck, Marin Ireland, Owen Campbell, Kerry Butler, Quinn Shephard, Emily Skeggs, Melanie Ehrlich, and Jennifer Ehle. The Miseducation of Cameron Post is an evocative and riveting film from Desiree Akhavan.
Set in 1993, the film revolves around a teenage girl who is caught by her prom date for having sex with another girl in a car prompting her aunt to send to a gay conversion therapy center where she is trying to cope with her situations and others who are struggling with their own identity and sexuality. It’s a film that explore the world of gay conversion therapy as the titular character (Chloe Grace Moretz) is sent to the center as she tries to find out what she might be gay but also others at this center. The film’s screenplay by Desiree Akhavan and Cecilia Frugiuele is largely straightforward with bits of flashbacks but also moments that are dream-like as it play into Cameron Post’s own journey as she meets other teens who are living in this camp with some just trying to become straight with a couple of teens who don’t want to play by the rules but act out in secret.
Running the camp is Dr. Lydia Marsh (Jennifer Ehle) who is trying to get the kids in line with the help of her brother Reverend Rick (John Gallagher Jr.) who used to be gay until his sister saved him. The script does showcase some depth in both Reverend Rick and Dr. Marsh as well-meaning people who believe they’re doing God’s work yet they’re unable to understand everything as Post begins to ask questions though she doesn’t think they’re bad people. The script also play into this air of temptation but also a struggle with identity as two of the teens in the hippie-raised Jane Fonda (Sasha Lane) and the Lakota two-spirit Adam Red Eagle (Forrest Goodluck) are both aware of who they are as they start to become unhappy with their time at the center.
Akhavan’s direction is largely straightforward in terms of its compositions yet it does a lot in exploring this period in time when gays and lesbians start to have their voices heard and people starting to come out. Yet, it is set in a world where not everyone is embracing this growing sense of change as Akhavan would shoot the film in various parts of Upstate New York. The location adds to the tone of the film where it does play into something where these young people are living somewhere that is almost in the middle of nowhere and sort of cut off from civilization. Akhavan’s direction doesn’t have a lot of wide shots except to establish the locations as she aims for something more intimate in her approach to close-ups and medium shots. Notably the latter as she focuses on what happens during group meetings as well as intimate moments involving Post, Fonda, and Eagle as well as exercises with her roommate Erin (Emily Skeggs). Akhavan also uses long takes to play into the conversations and group meetings in order to maintain the building friendship for Post and others at the center including a scene late in the film with Reverend Rick as it is clear that with all of these questions that Post has.
It is obvious that even someone like Reverend Rick doesn’t have all the answers but is at least trying to help these kids no matter how wrong he and his sister are. It all play into Post not just struggling with the world she’s in that is oppressive not just to herself but also to other teens as well as the people running it as they’re also struggling to connect with what is happening in modern civilization away. Akhavan also showcases Post’s own personal struggles as she’s trying to contact the girl she got caught with but also questions about whether she can come home as it raises her questions about her place in the world at a time when gays and lesbians are coming out yet acceptance is becoming hard to gain. Overall, Akhavan crafts a somber yet mesmerizing film about a teenage girl coping with her sexuality at a gay conversion therapy center.
Cinematographer Ashley Connor does excellent work with the film’s low-key cinematography as it emphasizes on naturalistic yet dark colors in some of the daytime interior/exterior scenes as well as low-key lights for the scenes set at night. Editor Sara Shaw does terrific work with the editing as it is largely straightforward with some jump-cuts to play into a few bits of Post jogging on a track field as well as some rhythmic cuts to play into the drama. Production designer Markus Kirschner, with set decorators John Arnos and Erin Blake plus art director Tori Lancaster, does amazing work with the look of the center and its buildings as well as the rooms that include decorations that teens put in the wall to motivate them getting straight.
Costume designer Stacey Berman does fantastic work with the costumes as it features some uniforms that the teens wear as well as a few casual pieces they would wear in the weekends or time to get out of the camp for a bit. Sound editor Ryan Billa does superb work with the sound as it is largely straightforward to play into the natural atmosphere of the locations as well as how music is heard on a radio or at a live Christian rock show. The film’s music by Julian Wass is wonderful for its mixture of low-key ambient music with elements of folk to play into the air of uncertainty that occur throughout the film while music supervisors Maggie Phillips and Christine Greene Roe create a soundtrack that does play into the period of the early 90s from the alternative music of the Feelies and 4 Non Blondes as well as music from Clarice Jensen, Melanie Ehrlich, Fredda Manzo, Irma Thomas, Wild Yawp with Justin Denis and Jack Reilly, and Timothy Blixseth.
The casting by Jessica Daniels is incredible as it feature some notable small roles from Dale Soules as Post’s grandmother, Christopher Dylan White as a teen named Dane who has a lot of attitude and puts people down over their problems, Melanie Ehrlich as a teen in Helen who is really into Christian rock, Quinn Shephard as the girl Post got caught with before she is sent to the center in Coley, Kerry Butler as Post’s aunt/guardian, Marin Ireland as a math teacher/Reverend Rick’s girlfriend Bethany whom Post dreams about making out with, and Owen Campbell as a troubled teen in Mark who is Adam’s roommate as he offers to help Post out while dealing with the idea that he might not be masculine enough for his father. Emily Skeggs is terrific as Erin as teenage girl who loves the Minnesota Vikings as she believes she’s a lesbian due to spending a lot of time with her dad as she finds herself becoming attracted towards Post. Jennifer Ehle is fantastic as Dr. Lydia Marsh as the center’s head as someone who is trying to help these teens though she is at times strict yet is willing to give people a chance to explain themselves while thinking she might have the answer to help them.
John Gallagher Jr. is excellent as Reverend Rick as Dr. Marsh’s brother who used to be gay as he is someone trying to help these kids as well as be a guide to them but eventually finds himself having a hard time when he is unable to give them easy or hard answers. Forrest Goodluck is brilliant as Adam Red Eagle as a two-spirit Lakota teen whose father has converted to Christianity as he has trouble trying to understand what the people at the center are doing while often likes to wear his hair down in a small act of rebellion. Sasha Lane is amazing as Jane Fonda as a hippie-raised teenage girl who sports a prosthetic leg as she is also rebellious but in secrecy as she also grows marijuana outside of the plant as a way to cope with her surroundings. Finally, there’s Chloe Grace Moretz in a phenomenal performance as the titular character as this young woman who is sent to this gay-conversion therapy center as she struggles with the idea of why she’s gay while trying to cope with the therapy itself though she doesn’t think the people running the place aren’t bad but misguided as she also deals with herself and other things at the center as it is one of Moretz’s finest performances to date.
The Miseducation of Cameron Post is an incredible film from Desiree Akhavan featuring a mesmerizing leading performance from Chloe Grace Moretz. Along with its brilliant ensemble cast and exploration of sexual identity during a time when not everyone is embracing the idea of coming out. It is also a film that explore a woman dealing with her situation as well as being in a world that is strict and religious yet with people who have good intentions but don’t have all the answers. In the end, The Miseducation of Cameron Post is a sensational film from Desiree Akhavan.
© thevoid99 2020
