You only have a few days left to stream one of the best road trip movies ever made — and it's completely free on Tubi
Few movies can successfully bottle the reckless, wide-open feeling of being young, broke and free quite like "American Honey," and right now you can watch it for free on Tubi. You'll want to act fast, though, because it's leaving the platform in a matter of days.
This 2016 road movie is the work of British director Andrea Arnold, best known for "Fish Tank," and it's her first film set in the United States. She won the Jury Prize at Cannes for it, and she created the whole thing on the road. "American Honey's" success is mostly owed to the fact that she cast mostly non-actors she found in parking lots and at state fairs and then shot across a dozen states in the Midwest. The result feels a lot like living through a real, honest-to-goodness summer.
Sasha Lane makes her debut as the lead, a young woman Arnold famously discovered on spring break, and she's matched by Shia LaBeouf, rat-tail and all, as the charmer she falls for. Riley Keough appears as the crew's iron-fisted boss. There's nothing quite like it out there in terms of sun-soaked angst and teenage road trip movies, so you're going to need to make it your mission not to miss "American Honey" while it's streaming free on Tubi.
What is 'American Honey' about?
Star (Sasha Lane) is a teenager stuck in Muskogee, Oklahoma, digging food out of dumpsters and looking after two small kids who aren't hers while living under the roof of their abusive father. When she crosses paths with a van of rowdy teens at a Kmart led by Jake (Shia LaBeouf), she decides she needs to make a change. She drops the kids with their mom, meets the van in a motel parking lot the next morning, and drives off into a completely different life.
The van is a "mag crew," a band of teenagers and twentysomethings who crisscross the country selling magazine subscriptions door to door, sleeping in cheap motels and partying every night.
Krystal (Riley Keough), the crew's boss, runs the operation and keeps most of the money. The rest of the team has to fend for themselves. Jake shows Star the ropes, and originally, she's just out to join the gang to do the job on her own. That's before the two of them fall into a volatile romance that keeps colliding with the fact that Jake belongs to Krystal, but also to the hustle. So where does that leave Krystal?
Why I recommend streaming 'American Honey'
The best movies about being young can capture the sense that your life is finally starting. "American Honey" is all about that feeling, and it's an exciting riff on a traditional road trip movie.
Sasha Lane is one of the best reasons to invest in this somewhat lengthy adaptation of a real-world trip, and she carries nearly every scene, making her debut one of the best of the last decade.
Shia LaBeouf has never been better or stranger than he is here, and Riley Keough makes Krystal somewhat terrifying despite her seemingly lackadaisical demeanor. But most importantly, underneath all the partying, the film is very clear-eyed about how these kids are being used and how little the country has left for them. It's hard to face, but it's also necessary.
At nearly three hours, "American Honey" is a long watch. But it's also well worth it. If you want something that actually stays with you, don't let this one slip past. It won't be free on Tubi for much longer, and it's getting ready to depart.
Stream "American Honey" free on Tubi
Follow Tom's Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Subscribe to Tom's Guide on YouTube and follow Tom's Guide Entertainment on TikTok and Instagram.
