Writer and director Tony Tost’s debut feature Americana certainly experienced quite the journey leading up to its release. The film premiered at SXSW back in March 2023, where it garnered significant interest and positive buzz. Without a release date, it fell off the radar for several months, until Lionsgate was announced to have acquired the worldwide distribution rights last year. Americana is finally hitting screens nearly two years later, with Tost’s revisionist Western offering up an action-packed story with big-name stars and themes of revenge and repatriation. 

Set in South Dakota and filmed in New Mexico, the film revolves around its cast of small-town characters seeking to acquire a Native American artifact— a Lakota Ghost Shirt, said to give spiritual protection to whoever possesses it. Americana is split into several chapters, each of which have a specific narrative focus. The first chapter introduces audiences to Cal (Gavin Maddox Bergman), a young boy who believes he is the reincarnation of famed Lakota leader Sitting Bull, and his mother Mandy Starr (Halsey). Mandy flees an abusive relationship and begs Cal to come with her but he refuses, convinced that he belongs with the Lakota people and rejecting her as a mother. The second chapter centers on the dynamic between Penny Jo Poplin (Sydney Sweeney) and Lefty Ledbetter (Paul Walter Hauser).

 Penny Jo, a waitress with a speech impediment and dreams of becoming a country singer, forms a kinship with the hapless Lefty, who’s down on his luck and looking for love. It feels as though the reason these two characters are drawn together is because they have no one else, rather than because they have romantic chemistry. There are moments where it seems as though something more could spark between them: when they drink and play darts together, or dance in a kitchen. However, the film is more interested in furthering its revenge and crime thriller plot.

While Tost’s film draws upon the traditional ‘cowboys vs. Indians’ trope, instead of glorifying the idea of profiting off the Lakota Ghost Shirt, Americana sends the message that artifacts of cultural importance should be returned to their spiritual homes rather than exploited for personal gain. It critiques white American stereotypes of Native Americans, as Cal’s interactions with resistance leader Ghost Eye (Zahn McClarnon) challenge the young boy’s preconceived cultural notions. Americana very much looks and feels like a contemporary Western, with wide shots of sprawling, barren landscapes, distinctive character designs, and visually striking cinematography. It also relies heavily on the use of diegetic sound, with scenes that are more often than not underscored by music coming from inside a bar or a car radio. 

Despite the strong performances from its cast, there are moments where the film does falter. Transitions between past and present are not always clear, especially with the placement of the flashback chapter establishing the Lakota Ghost Shirt bounty, and the revenge plot becomes overly drawn out. Also the film feels overly ambitious in its scope at times, with some of its character development sacrificed as a result.

The standout is undeniably Halsey, whose portrayal of rebellious runaway Mandy gives Americana some real emotional weight. The singer-songwriter isn’t exactly a stranger to the film industry, with a bit part in MaXXXine as well as voiceover roles in Teen Titans Go! To The Movies and Sing 2. To coincide with the release of her fourth album in 2021—the Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross-produced If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power—Halsey also wrote and starred in a conceptual film of the same name, which received a global cinema release. Still, Americana allows audiences to see her in a whole new light, lending some major credulity to her versatility as a performer.

Whether delivering profanity-laced threats with a smirk and the cock of a gun, or desperately trying to get through to a son detached from reality, Mandy is arguably the most compelling character the film has to offer. It’s also worth noting that Halsey herself is a mother with a young son, which grounds her performance in an added layer of truth. And in the film’s final minutes, one particular scene delivers an emotional payoff that feels truly earned, with a beautiful and powerful moment of catharsis that makes Americana worth the journey.

Americana is on digital platforms from 22 September

Dir: Tony Tost
Prod: Bron Studios, Saks Picture Company
Cast: Paul Walter Hauser, Sydney Sweeney, Halsey
Release Date: 2025
Available on: Google Play, Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Sky Store
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