Americana
Americana
When a rare Lakota Ghost Shirt falls onto the black market in a small South Dakota town, the lives of local outsiders and outcasts violently intertwine. Some seek fortune and some seek personal freedom, while others simply want to return the artifact to its proper tribal home.
Callum reviewedOctober 25, 2025
⭐⭐½ (out of 5) Americana – A modern echo of the Old West that never quite finds its aim.
“Americana” tries to bottle the spirit of the frontier — a pseudo-Western full of wide plains, faith, and friction — but never quite captures the spark that makes the genre gallop. It’s a strange hybrid of cowboy grit and small-community drama, complete with old-fashioned clothes, religious rigidity, and a classic “cowboys and Indians” showdown — only this time, the bows and arrows meet rifles in a clash that feels more nostalgic than necessary.
The story circles familiar themes of belief, belonging, and survival, but its pacing drifts and its tone wavers between authenticity and theatricality. There’s a solid attempt to explore faith-based isolation and cultural tension, yet the film struggles to keep your attention long enough to land its message.
The ending offers a bittersweet resolution — a major character’s death counterbalanced by another’s fulfillment — giving a sense of closure, if not satisfaction.
Ultimately, Americana is a film with its heart in the right place but its boots stuck in the mud. It looks the part, plays the part, but never quite earns its spurs.