Overview

• Sweeney’s August 13 Instagram post marked her first social-media activity since critics challenged the “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans” denim campaign
• Americana, written and directed by Tony Tost, features Sweeney alongside Paul Walter Hauser, Halsey, Simon Rex, Eric Dane and Zahn McClarnon
• The film holds an early 83% rating on Rotten Tomatoes as it heads into theaters this Friday, August 15
• American Eagle has maintained that the campaign’s slogan was solely about celebrating denim and pledged proceeds and attention to Crisis Text Line
• The crime thriller’s plot centers on a prized Lakota “ghost shirt,” spotlighting Indigenous characters and raising questions about cultural artifact representation