A good film, but could have been so much better

I probably agree on it's 7 rating on IMDB. I preferred the film when the scenes were set around the crew rather then when they went out on their scams. Would have liked more of Riley Keough's character. I thought Shia LaBeouf gave one of his better performances in this. I think Sasha Lane delivered a star making performance. Out of the group, the only one I've seen before was Arielle Holmes as Pagan, as she was in the brilliant Heaven Knows What.

Did it need to be near 3 hours long, probably not. If it was dealing with other's in the group and not just on Sasha's and Shia's character's romance then I understand the running time. Some of the scamming scenes went on far too long and took away from getting to know the other group members.

To be fair, I could have done without the romance hogging most of the film time and more dealing with Sasha dealing with the other members of the group, and trying to get used to the new life she's living. I think it's a film still well worth checking out, but director Andrea Arnold has done better work, Fish Tank, Red Road and Wasp are far better films.