National Anthem (2023 film)

Dylan is a 21-year-old who lives in rural New Mexico and works as a construction worker to help support his little brother Cassidy and alcoholic mother Fiona. He puts money away to save for an RV and see the country. One day he is recruited by Pepe to come work temporarily at a ranch called "House of Splendor" to do farmwork, where he sees its queer residents living peaceful lives from afar and gets acquainted with Pepe's trans girlfriend Sky, whom he feels an attraction to. Fiona warns Dylan not to get too close to the ranch residents after spotting a rainbow flag in the property.

Dylan finds a group of the residents at a superstore, where Sky applies eyeshadow on Dylan and invites him to a rodeo where a number of them will be participating. Dylan agrees to come but later flees the store ashamed of wearing makeup. Upon returning home, Cassidy helps Dylan remove the makeup, who asks to keep it a secret from Fiona.

At the rodeo, Dylan is overcome with happiness upon seeing everyone enjoy themselves. He is motivated to ride a bull by one of Sky's friends; later, Sky gifts him a belt buckle she won riding her horse, Cash, in the barrel race. The group later visits a drag bar where Sky performs a lip-sync number. After drinking mushroom tea, Dylan has a threesome with Sky and Pepe. Sky later reveals the pair is in an open relationship, although feelings of jealousy are evident in Pepe, who reminds Dylan of the fact that he is only a temporary resident at the ranch.

Dylan befriends Carrie, a non-binary resident who confides in him the story of how they were kicked out of their house by their conservative family after coming out. They advise Dylan that he can choose to be whoever he wants. After visiting a festival, Dylan and Sky have sex. The group visits the drag bar again where Dylan confidently performs a lip-sync number in drag. Fiona starts to resent Dylan for spending too much time at the ranch, taking Cassidy with him and buying him dresses. Dylan later discovers Fiona has stolen some of his RV money and storms off with Cassidy to live on the ranch.

While horse riding, Dylan and Sky are caught in a storm. Sky's horse, Cash, flees panicked into the storm, eventually succumbing to injuries after running into a barbed wire fence. This upsets Sky deeply and Pepe comforts her. Carrie attempts to assure a distraught Dylan that it wasn't his fault, although he blames himself for choosing to stay outdoors with Cash after Sky had warned him of the storm. Feeling guilty, Dylan and Cassidy return with Fiona, who embraces them.

An apologetic Fiona gives Dylan money to buy his RV and the two make amends, feeling hopeful for the future. Dylan takes his family to another rodeo. There, Dylan and Sky embrace amiably before parting ways.

• Charlie Plummer as Dylan^[3]
• Eve Lindley as Sky^[3]
• Mason Alexander Park as Carrie^[3]
• Rene Rosado as Pepe^[3]
• Robyn Lively as Fiona^[3]
• Joey DeLeon as Cassidy^[3]

National Anthem was directed by Luke Gilford, marking his feature film debut. The screenplay was co-written by Gilford, David Largman Murray, and Kevin Best and was inspired by Gilford's monograph titled National Anthem: America's Queer Rodeo.^[3]

National Anthem premiered at the 2023 South by Southwest Film & TV Festival on March 10, 2023.^[1] The film had its international premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 2023.^[4][5] In February 2024, it was announced that Variance Films would distribute the film, with a July 12, 2024, release.^[6] The film had its first European premiere in London at the 32nd Raindance Film Festival in June 2024.^[7]