Get ready for a road trip through Americana.
The upcoming film is about to make its SXSW premiere, and we’ve got our first official clip!
Americana stars Sydney Sweeney as Penny Jo, a waitress trying to follow her Nashville dreams who teams up with lonesome cowboy Lefty, played by Paul Walter Hauser, to try to steal the treasured Lakota Native American Ghost Shirt, an artifact that is both worth a lot of money and an important part of history.
Their plans for glory get derailed when they meet up with Mandy, the girlfriend of another criminal who had stolen the shirt, who decides that she wants it for herself. That’s where this first look clip comes in.
Halsey is serving full-on Joan Jett realness with a black, choppy mullet and a black leather jacket as Mandy in the pop star’s big-screen acting debut.
In the clip, Mandy is distracted by a man flirting with her (Hauser) while pumping gas into her classic red car. But soon, she realizes that it’s a setup, and the man is working with Sweeney’s character Penny Jo.
Penny Jo then comes up behind Halsey and puts a gun to her back, demanding, “do you have the artifact?”
But Mandy is one tough cookie and won’t be intimidated by Sweeney’s stuttering character, even if she has a gun pointed directly at her. As Mandy drives away, Penny Jo gets in the truck with Lefty and they chase after her down the road.
AMERICANA | Sneak Peek | BRON Studios
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Americana is written and directed by first-time filmmaker Tony Tost. He told Deadline that this first scene we’re seeing is a great setup for the tone of the movie.
“It’s one of my favorite scenes because none of these characters are smooth, experienced criminals in the slightest, and I love how Sydney, Paul, and Halsey all play their desperate intentions and discomfort to quietly comedic effect,” he said.
Americana makes its world premiere on Friday, March 17 at 1:30pm CT at the Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas.
