(1/30) Task 1 for Scavenger Hunt #30 | A film that sounds good enough to eat

Going into this, I wasn't really sure what to expect. All I knew of this film was that it was considered good, and that it had to do with a teenage girl, something I can always get behind; I love depictions of teen girls' lives and stories. Sasha Lane was outstanding in this, I thought. So were Shia LaBeouf and Riley Keough. I enjoyed the plot for the most part, though that wasn't what made this film. Door-to-door magazine selling is definitely not something I would've thought of when writing a screenplay, but it worked and made for unpredictability. What made this film was the cinematography, the soundtrack, and how absolutely genuine the dynamics between the whole crew were. Without even one of those, this wouldn't be that great of a film. Another highlight to me was the way the camera tended to focus on nature and people just being people. This film didn't even feel as if everyone was acting, it felt so real. Not in a reality show way, but in a genuine, "this is how real life is!" kind of way.

I'm not the greatest at writing reviews yet; I don't know all the fancy film critic lingo, I don't know how to be poetic and pull the best, subtlest parts of the film out and put them into words, but I'm trying to get better at it. To me, this film felt so true to life, and I appreciate that in coming-of-age stories, or just depictions of people that is supposed to be something like "real life." The acting was perfect for this; none of it felt forced or out of place - in some films when there's a lot of swearing, when there's a lot of casual dialog, it sounds strained and forced, like it almost gives me secondhand embarrassment. But not this film, this was raw and real and everything you'd want in a story like this.

A couple of notes:
- I loved when Star saved bees (multiple times !!)
- her love of animals in general was apparent and somehow very fitting for her character, I loved that
- when American Honey finally played, I couldn't help but smile
- I would love to die at the hands of Riley Keough