American Honey
Star, a teenage girl with nothing to lose, joins a traveling magazine sales crew, and gets caught up in a whirlwind of hard partying, law bending and young love as she criss-crosses the Midwest with a band of misfits.
The film underperformed commercially against its tight budget of $3.5M, earning $2.3M globally (-35% loss). While initial box office returns were modest, the film has gained appreciation for its bold vision within the adventure genre.
Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award13 wins & 43 nominations
Plot Structure
Story beats plotted across runtime
Narrative Arc
Emotional journey through the story's key moments
Story Circle
Blueprint 15-beat structure
Arcplot Score Breakdown
Weighted: Precision (70%) + Arc (15%) + Theme (15%)
American Honey (2016) demonstrates precise narrative architecture, characteristic of Andrea Arnold's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 15-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 2 hours and 43 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 6.3, the film takes an unconventional approach to traditional narrative frameworks.
Characters
Cast & narrative archetypes
Star
Jake
Krystal
Pagan
Corey
Main Cast & Characters
Star
Played by Sasha Lane
A troubled teenager who joins a traveling magazine sales crew and experiences freedom and exploitation on the road.
Jake
Played by Shia LaBeouf
The charismatic crew leader who recruits Star and becomes her love interest, balancing charm with manipulation.
Krystal
Played by Riley Keough
The tough, controlling crew manager who runs the operation with an iron fist and maintains order through intimidation.
Pagan
Played by Arielle Holmes
A wild, free-spirited crew member who befriends Star and embodies the chaotic energy of life on the road.
Corey
Played by McCaul Lombardi
A crew member competing with Star for Jake's attention and her position in the group hierarchy.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 2 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes Star dumpster dives for food in a K-Mart parking lot, caring for her young siblings in poverty. Her life is defined by scarcity, responsibility beyond her years, and complete invisibility to the world around her.. Structural examination shows that this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 19 minutes when Jake appears at Star's trailer home and directly offers her a way out: join the magazine crew and make money traveling. The offer represents escape, adventure, and the possibility of a different life entirely.. At 12% through the film, this Disruption aligns precisely with traditional story structure. This beat shifts the emotional landscape, launching the protagonist into the central conflict.
The First Threshold at 40 minutes marks the transition into Act II, occurring at 24% of the runtime. This reveals the protagonist's commitment to Star actively chooses to leave her siblings and join the crew permanently, getting into the van as they drive away. She crosses into a new world, abandoning her caretaker role for the promise of freedom and self-discovery., moving from reaction to action.
At 81 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 50% of the runtime—precisely centered, creating perfect narrative symmetry. Notably, this crucial beat Star witnesses Jake in a compromising situation with a wealthy client, revealing the sexual manipulation behind his sales success. The illusion of authentic freedom shatters; she realizes the crew's lifestyle is built on exploitation and survival, not liberation., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 121 minutes (74% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, Star is abandoned by Jake after she refuses to exploit herself for sales. Left alone in a strange place, she encounters three oil workers who could harm her. The whiff of death: her dream of freedom has led to isolation and danger, not empowerment., indicates the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Second Threshold at 130 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 80% of the runtime. Star makes a huge sale to the oil workers who give her $1,500 out of genuine care, not exploitation. She chooses to return to the crew with newfound clarity: she can survive in this world without losing herself, finding authentic connection on her own terms., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
American Honey's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 15 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs proven narrative structure principles that track dramatic progression. By mapping American Honey against these established plot points, we can identify how Andrea Arnold utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish American Honey within the adventure genre.
Andrea Arnold's Structural Approach
Among the 2 Andrea Arnold films analyzed on Arcplot, the average structural score is 6.7, demonstrating varied approaches to story architecture. American Honey takes a more unconventional approach compared to the director's typical style. For comparative analysis, explore the complete Andrea Arnold filmography.
Comparative Analysis
Additional adventure films include Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, The Bad Guys and Zoom. For more Andrea Arnold analyses, see Fish Tank.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Star dumpster dives for food in a K-Mart parking lot, caring for her young siblings in poverty. Her life is defined by scarcity, responsibility beyond her years, and complete invisibility to the world around her.
Theme
Jake tells Star "We're young and we're free" as the mag crew dances through the store. The theme is stated: the tension between freedom and responsibility, between the American Dream and the reality of those left behind.
Worldbuilding
Star's impoverished life is established: caring for siblings, living with an abusive mother's boyfriend, scavenging for survival. Jake and the magazine crew appear as a glimpse of wild freedom, dancing and singing in K-Mart, representing everything Star's life isn't.
Disruption
Jake appears at Star's trailer home and directly offers her a way out: join the magazine crew and make money traveling. The offer represents escape, adventure, and the possibility of a different life entirely.
Resistance
Star wrestles with leaving her siblings behind. She experiences her first night with the crew, observing their wild lifestyle, meeting Krystal who runs the operation, and Jake teaching her the basics of the magazine hustle. She's tempted but uncertain.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
Star actively chooses to leave her siblings and join the crew permanently, getting into the van as they drive away. She crosses into a new world, abandoning her caretaker role for the promise of freedom and self-discovery.
Mirror World
Star and Jake's romantic and sexual relationship begins in earnest. Jake represents the thematic mirror: he embodies the freedom Star craves but also the emptiness and exploitation beneath the surface of the American Dream they're chasing.
Premise
The promise of the premise: Star experiences life on the road with the mag crew. Wild parties, car sing-alongs, her first sales, discovering her sexuality, bonding with the crew, and falling for Jake. The freedom is intoxicating but hints of exploitation and emptiness emerge.
Midpoint
Star witnesses Jake in a compromising situation with a wealthy client, revealing the sexual manipulation behind his sales success. The illusion of authentic freedom shatters; she realizes the crew's lifestyle is built on exploitation and survival, not liberation.
Opposition
Star's disillusionment grows as she sees the cost of this life: Krystal's controlling manipulation, Jake's dishonesty and hustling, the crew's desperation masked as freedom. Star tries to find authentic connection and meaning, selling to cowboys, encountering kind strangers, but the emptiness persists.
Collapse
Star is abandoned by Jake after she refuses to exploit herself for sales. Left alone in a strange place, she encounters three oil workers who could harm her. The whiff of death: her dream of freedom has led to isolation and danger, not empowerment.
Crisis
Star spends time with the oil workers who, surprisingly, treat her with genuine kindness and respect. She experiences authentic human connection without exploitation. In the darkness, she must decide what freedom actually means and who she wants to be.
Act III
ResolutionSecond Threshold
Star makes a huge sale to the oil workers who give her $1,500 out of genuine care, not exploitation. She chooses to return to the crew with newfound clarity: she can survive in this world without losing herself, finding authentic connection on her own terms.
Synthesis
Star returns to the crew as a changed person. She confronts Krystal's exploitation, asserts herself with Jake, and shares her money with the crew on her terms. She navigates the final stretch of the journey with newfound agency, neither fully accepting nor rejecting this world.
Transformation
Star runs into the ocean waves alone at dawn, free and joyful. Unlike the opening where she was invisible and trapped, she now possesses agency and self-knowledge. She has found a version of freedom that's authentic to her, not imposed or exploited.