Synopsis
On a desolate Navajo reservation in New Mexico, three young people – a college-bound, devout Christian; a rebellious and angry father-to-be; and a promiscuous but gorgeous Nádleehi (trans person)- search for love and acceptance.
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Cast
- Jeremiah BitsuiLuther Sickboy Maryboy
- Kiowa GordonJulius
- Shauna BakerKarah
- Lora Martinez-CunninghamNun
- Debrianna MansiniPhoebe Smiles
- Pierre BarreraMr. Omaha
- Mark SivertsenPhillip Smiles
- Amber MidthunderModel
- MorningStar AngelineNizhoni Smiles
- Carmen MooreFelixia
Recommendations
- 80
Arizona Republic
Freeland does a fine job, waiting for her characters to converge in a way that doesn't feel overly forced, though there is a bit of that "Crash" tidiness in how things fall together. Still, the film is moving and human. - 75
TheWrap
Drunktown’s Finest shouldn’t be viewed simply as an anthropological curiosity, though, but as the promising debut of a gifted filmmaker who wants to show the beating and hurting hearts of the people behind the headlines. - 60
The New York Times
The screenplay tracing the characters’ struggles has a tidy, workshopped feel, and the dialogue and acting can be gratingly flat. But what gives the film a certain confidence is its cultural specificity and the fresh clashes and contrasts it presents. - 60
The Hollywood Reporter
While Freeland's plotting is graceful, there are occasional moments of stiffness in the dialogue itself, brief rough patches her largely neophyte cast can't fix in the delivery. - 50
Variety
Unfortunately, Drunktown’s Finest too often suffers from stilted performances and scripting. - 50
The Dissolve
Drunktown’s Finest oscillates between servicing banal plot machinations and the beautiful, symbolic simplicity of the culture it’s representing. - 50
RogerEbert.com
Drunktown's Finest shows a filmmaker struggling to find her voice. It's a whisper here, but we can hear it. - 50
Los Angeles Times
Unfortunately, each main character serves as an avatar emblematic of a societal symptom instead of a real person in whose shoes we can stand. As a result, their trajectories are didactic and predictable.
