NZIFF - American Woman

A sweeping character study centred on a teenager’s disappearance – and a mother’s determination to live through the tragedy – in blue collar Pennsylvania. With Sienna Miller, Aaron Paul and Christina Hendricks.

Sienna Miller is superb as a mother struggling to move on – and move through life – in this decade-spanning story of a missing teenager in working-class Pennsylvania. Focusing on both small and significant happenings in the Rust Belt, director Jake Scott lets the desperation of his characters speak through everyday drama – and provides Miller with a platform for one of the best performances of her career.

“Deb (Miller) was never shy about being the bad girl in her family. She had her daughter Bridget young, Bridget had her son Jesse young, and the three of them live a… happy life. Then one night Bridget goes out with her old boyfriend… and never returns. Deb’s mother (Madigan) and sister (Hendricks) join the entire community in a thorough search, but to no avail. Time passes… But just when her devastating loss seems far behind her, new truths come to light that change everything…
American Woman pulls us deep into the lives of these good, flawed, ordinary people. Miller has never given a performance quite this lived-in and emotionally layered. Her character’s pain is soul-piercing, but so are her resilience and survival skills.” — Jane Schoettle, Toronto International Film Festival

USA 2018
Director: Jake Scott
With: Sienna Miller, Christina Hendricks, Aaron Paul
111 minutes

Tickets are available online through Ticketek, from the front desk at MTG or the box office at the Napier Municipal Theatre. Door sales will also be available at the MTG Century Theatre one hour prior to the screening.

Rating: Exempt

Presented by: New Zealand International Film Festival.