Raw road movie that smells like teen spirit

How did the Oscars miss American Honey, British writer-director Andrea Arnold's gem of a film that is as gritty and moving as this year's dark horse (and eventual Best Picture winner) Moonlight.

An ode to wasted youth, this coming-of-age road movie - which takes its title from a Lady Antebellum song and is based on a New York Times article about teenage delinquents recruited to sell magazine subscriptions - bears the nihilistic gloom of Larry Clark's Kids (1995), Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers (2012) and just about anything that Gus Van Sant has ever made with its unflinching portrayal of the American dream being shattered at a young age.

Smells like teen spirit? You bet. This grungy three-hour arthouse drama is even bold enough to earn Shia LaBeouf his big screen comeback, after years of dabbling with performance art and getting into trouble with the law.