It’s taken a couple of years, but Americana has finally arrived.
Tony Tost’s modern-day Western drama Americana debuted at SXSW in 2023, and the film starring Sydney Sweeney and Paul Walter Hauser is ready to hit theaters on August 22nd. The story, penned by Tost in his feature directorial debut, follows a rare Native American artifact that falls into the wrong hands, and the shy waitress and military veteran who set on a dangerous road trip to retrieve it.
The film also stars pop star Halsey, Simon Rex, Eric Dane, and Zahn McClarnon. Dane and Sweeney are both stars of HBO’s Euphoria.
Tost is the showrunner of hit Peacock series Poker Face, and worked on such shows as Damnation, Longmire, and The Terror.
SYNOPSIS: A gallery of dynamic characters clash over the possession of a rare Native American artifact in this wildly entertaining modern-day western. After the artifact falls onto the black market, a shy waitress with big dreams (Sydney Sweeney) teams up with a lovelorn military veteran (Paul Walter Hauser) to gain possession of it, putting them in the crosshairs of a ruthless criminal (Eric Dane) working on behalf of a Western antiquities dealer (Simon Rex). Bloodshed ensues when others join the battle, including the leader of an indigenous group (Zahn McClarnon) and a desperate woman fleeing her mysterious past (Halsey).
I’m definitely getting a bit of a Quentin Tarantino vibe from this trailer, which was not expected based on what I heard about the film. It’s piqued my interest, along with the cast of Sweeney, Hauser, and Halsey, who was pretty good in MaXXXine recently.
Lionsgate will release Americana on August 22nd.
