If “Barbie” (and Cormac McCarthy) have taught us anything, it’s that few symbols herald pure hypermasculinity like horses.
Maybe that’s why weird cowboy stories endured in Hollywood – after all, one way to make a love story interesting is to make it subversive or forbidden.
Luke Gilford “National anthem” fits into this tradition of films. But neither.
It’s true that 21-year-old Dylan (a phenomenal Charlie Plummer) wasn’t raised in an environment that celebrated or even was open to his sexuality. As a poor construction worker in the American Southwest and father figure to his younger brother, Dylan stays quiet and keeps his head down when his mother (Robyn Lively) and co-workers scoff in disgust or make jokes about him being gay.
While “National Anthem” is indeed a story about star-crossed lovers, it is also, more importantly, a coming-of-age exploration of what it means for a person to find a community and a place to belong. It also poignantly questions how much autonomy we have in this pursuit.
In it, Dylan is pressured by his mother to work more to support his cash-strapped family. Turns out he finds him on a ranch unlike anything he’s ever seen – an odd community of rodeo performers living together in what appears to be an idyllic oasis, free from the repressive restrictions of the outside world.
Almost nothing is said about each person’s sexuality or gender identity — it doesn’t need to be in a place like this, where fluidity and rejection of norms are assumed.
Dylan, perhaps for the first time, begins to consider what his own gender performance would be like if it were not inhibited by societal expectations.
The young construction worker is captivated by everyone’s strong sense of identity and the camaraderie that exists within the nameless group. He almost immediately begins a romance with the enigmatic and free-spirited Sky (Eve Lindley), but their relationship is complicated by Sky’s existing open partnership with Pepe, the group’s leader.
Cinematographer Katelin Arizmendi expertly cultivates a sense of awe and wonder at the landscape that is almost its own character in the story. She also gives the film a touch of surrealism, which heightens Dylan’s dreamlike stupor as he is swept up in this heady romance.
When Dylan goes to his first rodeo with the group, a montage of majestic scenes that scream America – reminiscent of a Budweiser commercial – floods his gaze. But peppered with shots of bulls, horses and rugged landscapes are scenes of queer romance, pride flags and drag queens touching up their makeup.
Although he finds new freedom and acceptance here, the tension in his relationship with Sky forces Dylan to struggle with where he belongs – is it within the community or with his younger brother and struggling alcoholic mother?
Dylan’s family history is frustratingly underdeveloped, often used as a crutch to show that his life is difficult but never satisfactorily explained or resolved. His absent father is mentioned throughout, but it is unclear what impact, if any, this absence should have had on him.
Gilford, the son of a Colorado rodeo rider, has a deep personal connection to his directorial debut. He had for much of his life an ambivalent relationship with his cowboy roots – until he founded the International Gay Rodeo Association.
As a participant and researcher who conducted interviews and took photographs, Gilford noted that this was a way for members of the LGBTQ+ community to reclaim the idea of patriotism in a place where they have traditionally not been welcome. “National Anthem,” Gilford’s 2020 photography book of the same name, documents scenes from these strange rodeos.
More than anything, Gilford’s film should be praised for the way it continues to tell a story about a subculture that few know exists.
“National Anthem,” an LD Entertainment release in theaters Friday, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for sexual content, graphic nudity, language and some drug use. Running time: 99 minutes. Two and a half out of four.
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