When a sacred 19th-century Lakota Ghost Shirt – believed to render warriors invincible – surfaces on the black market in dead-end Deerfield, South Dakota, the town’s fractured souls collide with primal fury. Outsiders, outcasts, and opportunists wage a brutal war for the relic, exposing generations of buried trauma, greed, and cultural desecration. Director Tony Tost (*1883*) crafts a neo-Western noir where desperation turns motel rooms into battlegrounds and gas stations into confessionals.

This isn’t just a crime thriller; it’s a scalding autopsy of the American myth. As bullets fly and alliances shatter, the Ghost Shirt’s spiritual power ignites reckoning: for broken Native promises, decaying heartland dreams, and the violent cost of belonging nowhere. Every character claws toward redemption or ruin through bloodstained snow and neon-lit dive bars, where the only law is survival.

Americana cast and roles

1. Sydney Sweeney as Penny Jo Poplin

Penny Jo, a meth-cook’s daughter turned motel maid, sees the Ghost Shirt as her ticket out of Deerfield. Her frantic bid to steal it triggers the town’s descent into chaos, forcing her to choose between saving her little brother or fleeing alone. Sweeney weaponizes her Euphoria vulnerability into feral resilience – especially in a third-act shootout where she uses buffalo bones as clubs.

Sweeney (b. 1997, WA) channels Reality’s physicality and The Voyeurs’ moral ambiguity. Her stunt training (knife fights, car jumps) grounds Penny Jo’s raw desperation, marking her grittiest role yet.

2. Paul Walter Hauser as Lefty Ledbetter

Lefty, a one-handed ex-rodeo clown turned pawn shop owner, becomes the Shirt’s reluctant broker. His dark humor masks survivor’s guilt over a reservation fire he escaped – until Lakota enforcers force him to confront his past. Hauser makes Lefty’s haggling scenes feel like high-stakes poker, bluffing with sweat-soaked bravado.

Hauser (b. 1986, MI) expands his Black Bird menace with tragic levity. Watch for his monologue about losing his hand to a bull – a masterclass in homespun horror.

3. Halsey as Mandy Starr

Mandy, a rez-raised singer drowning in opioid debt, plans to sell the Shirt to fund her Nashville escape. Her cracked rendition of “Jolene” in a karaoke bar becomes the film’s haunting refrain. Halsey’s live-wire stage presence electrifies Mandy’s downward spiral – especially when she brandishes a shotgun mid-verse.

Halsey (b. 1994, NJ) translates her Room 93 short-film rawness to the big screen. Her original song “Ghost in the Cotton” underscores the climax.

4. Eric Dane as Dillon MacIntosh

Dillon, a crooked tribal casino boss, sends hired guns to retrieve the Shirt after his addict son (Bergman) steals it. Dane oozes tailored-suit menace, chillingly calm as he orders torture in whispered phone calls. His final confrontation with McClarnon’s Ghost Eye is a silent battle of glares and gut punches.

Dane (b. 1972, CA) channels Euphoria’s Cal Jacobs with extra viciousness. His real-life recovery journey informs Dillon’s self-loathing.

5. Gavin Maddox Bergman as Cal Starr

Cal, Mandy’s junkie brother, ignites the chaos by swiping the Shirt for drug money. Bergman’s twitchy, heartbreaking performance peaks when he hallucinates Lakota warriors chasing him through a Walmart.

Bergman (newcomer, The Fabelmans extra) delivers a star-making turn. His real-life Cheyenne roots fuel Cal’s cultural dissociation.

6. Joe Adler as Fun Dave

Dave, Deerfield’s manic party-supply dealer, sells body bags alongside fireworks. Adler steals scenes as the town’s chaotic neutral, hoarding secrets until a shotgun forces his confession in a snowbound trailer.

Adler (b. 1990, FL) merges Maze Runner intensity with Grey’s Anatomy dark humor. His improvised one-liners (“Wanna see a magic trick?”) became set legends.

7. Zahn McClarnon as Ghost Eye

Ghost Eye, a Lakota elder turned vengeful enforcer, hunts those defiling the Shirt. McClarnon’s stillness terrifies – especially when he cleanses a thief’s wounds with sage before executing him.

McClarnon (b. 1966, CO – Hunkpapa Lakota) brings Dark Winds gravitas. His Lakota language soliloquy over a villain’s grave is the film’s moral anchor.

8. Derek Hinkey as Hank Spears

Hank, Ghost Eye’s volatile nephew, escalates violence with brawls and arson. Hinkey’s real-life Northern Arapaho heritage grounds Hank’s rage against rez poverty.

Hinkey (Yellowstone stuntman) performs his own fire-jump stunt – a 30-foot leap onto Dillon’s SUV.

9. Simon Rex as Roy Lee Dean

Roy Lee, Penny Jo’s ex-con uncle, drags her into the hunt with promises of shared riches. Rex radiates meth-lab charisma, turning a convenience store holdup into cackling anarchy.

Rex (b. 1974, CA) revives Red Rocket’s sleazy charm. His improvised line “Jesus hates cowards, baby!” made the final cut.

10. Jasper Keen as Reggie Dale

Reggie, Dillon’s loyal but conflicted enforcer, faces his conscience when ordered to kill a teen. Keen’s physical presence (6’5″) contrasts with his tender final act sacrifice.

Keen (MMA fighter-turned-actor) staged the film’s brutal tire-iron fight himself.

11. Christopher Kriesa as Hiram Starr

Hiram, Mandy and Cal’s broken father, guards a secret about the Shirt’s true origin. Kriesa’s wordless grief – polishing a 30-year-old AA coin while watching his kids implode – wrecks hearts.

Kriesa (Sons of Anarchy’s Kozik) drew from his own sobriety journey for the role.