Director Luke Gilford’s ‘National Anthem’ is a moving rural queer story centered on Dylan, who is portrayed by American actor Charlie Plummer.
Deadline recently shared a first-look clip of the film, which shows Dylan coming home wearing turquoise eyeshadow and lipstick. His “adoring preteen brother,” Cassidy (Joey DeLeon) asks him about it, and then he helps his older brother remove the makeup ever so gently.
Cassidy even compliments Dylan, expressing:
“I like it. It looks good on you.”
The Hollywood Reporter‘s David Rooney described Plummer’s portrayal of 21-year-old Dylan as a “tenderly yearning performance.” Moreover, the plot of ‘National Anthem’ reads:
“Dylan lives an isolated life of routine in rural New Mexico, working odd construction jobs to help support his little brother and alcoholic mother. He accepts a gig working at the House of Splendor, a homestead built by a community of queer rodeo performers and ranchers, and soon the indefinable magic of an untamed America unfolds before him. Finding space to explore and discover himself, he becomes entwined in the life of Sky, a talented barrel racer and free spirit. While working together in the breathtaking expanse of the Southwest, they contend with the undeniable forces of nature, family and love.”
Earlier this year, the film premiered at SXSW where Gilford shared about his goal in telling this poignant queer story, expressing:
“We’ve all seen these queer tragedies. Every rural queer story we’ve seen has been a tragedy, so it was a real mission of all of ours to peel away those cliches to show something that was true, but also something that we haven’t seen before.”
‘National Anthem’ is set to have its international premiere in this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. In the meantime, you can watch the heartfelt first-look video here:
Sources: deadline.com, hollywoodreporter.com
