Americana

The unassuming, even charming nature of the characters and the setting in Americana makes the eventual bloodbath all the more impactful.

This contemporary Western neo-noir subverts genre tropes while spotlighting a sharp ensemble cast in a compelling caper involving a valuable Native American artifact and a spiral of greed, betrayal, and murder.

Ambling along at a leisurely rhythm that seems to fit the subject matter, the evocative thriller is told in intertwining chapters connecting various blue-collar characters on Lakota tribal land, including some outsiders whose intentions aren’t exactly honorable.

It’s set in rural South Dakota, opening with a sequence in which single mother Mandy (Halsey) flees from the mobile home she shares with her boyfriend (Eric Dane) and young son (Gavin Maddox Bergman), whose insists he’s the spiritual reincarnation of Sitting Bull.

From there, we shift to a diner where waitress Penny Jo (Sydney Sweeney) has dreams of Nashville stardom but a stutter that holds her back. When she overhears a collectibles dealer (Simon Rex) trying to negotiate terms for a rare “ghost shirt” — which happens to be in the trunk of the car Mandy stole — Penny senses a chance to secure the cash she needs.

She recruits a lovelorn loner (Paul Walter Hauser) who’s all too eager to spend more time with Penny and join the scheme. But the youngster leaks the whereabouts of the garment to a Lakota man (Derek Hinkey) and his associate (Zahn McClarnon) likewise set their eyes on the prize.

Picking up steam as it goes along, the film is episodic by nature yet also meticulously crafted as the pieces come together, gradually transitioning into a twisty maze of cloudy motives and shifting loyalties.

Occasionally resembling a tossed-off Coen brothers project, the screenplay by rookie director Tony Tost sometimes struggles to balance its goofy quirks with the intricacies of the central mystery while also remaining grounded in its cultural context.

The underlying themes of family legacies, ethnic heritage, patriarchal customs, and socioeconomic class are mostly relegated to the backburner.

Still, as secrets and background details are revealed, Americana steadily escalates the tension while challenging our rooting interests. The film succeeds on its own modest terms.

Rated R, 107 minutes.