National Anthem: A Drag Rodeo Romance that Tenderly Bucks Expectations

By Chris Knight

Rating: B+

Sometimes the best drama is no drama at all.

Not to say that nothing happens in National Anthem, a wistful coming-of-age film from first-time feature writer/director Luke Gilford. But given the puzzle pieces — a tender young man of 21, an alcoholic mother, a queer rodeo — you could imagine all kinds of fireworks and fisticuffs. And you’d be sorely disappointed I guess.

Except you shouldn’t, because what National Anthem lacks in spectacle it more than makes up for in quiet moments of beauty, tenderness and heartache.

Charlie Plummer, Eve Lindley and Mason Alexander Park in National Anthem

 Charlie Plummer — no relation to Christopher, except perhaps spiritually — plays Dylan, who is saving up enough money to buy an RV and strike out on his own, away from his neglectful mom (Robyn Lively).

One day he accepts a job as a day labourer on a ranch outside of the New Mexico town where he lives. He arrives to find it populated by a friendly passel of queer, trans and gender-fluid beauties. Call it Priscilla, Queen of the Chihuahuan Desert.

One of the ranch denizens, Sky (Eve Lindley), takes a shine to Dylan, and their flirting quickly escalates into something more. It’s not clear if Dylan is immediate aware that she’s trans, or that she’s already in a relationship with the ranch’s owner, Pepe (Rene Rosado), but he’ll figure all of this out quickly enough — and it won’t make any difference to the way he feels.

Dylan doesn’t have a lot of friends, though he dotes on his younger brother. But in the odd social backwater that is the House of Splendor ranch, he seems to have “met his people,” as Sky puts it. A shopping trip to a local department store ends with him in lipstick and eye shadow courtesy of his new friends.

Later, he’ll slip into full drag and perform a musical number. It’s the one moment that kind of took me out of the film — Dylan doesn’t seem like the type to seek out the spotlight, even in disguise — but maybe that’s just his feelings for Sky finding a way to express themselves.

Of course, not everything will go smoothly for our young protagonist; there’s a hint of a threat when Pepe tells him that he can’t stay at the ranch forever. But National Anthem finds a way to steer the story past cliche and into something that feels real.

Little wonder that Gilford was a photographer before he became a filmmaker; he produced a photo exhibit in 2020 chronicling the International Gay Rodeo Association. National Anthem seems primarily interested in the play of light on human skin, horsehides, and the vast New Mexico landscape. Story comes second, but it’s definitely there, and it’s a good one.

National Anthem. Directed by Luke Gilford. Starring Charlie Plummer, Eve Lindley, and Rene Rosado. Opens in theatres, Friday, July 19.