Lanton Mills is an American comedy short film written and directed by Terrence Malick[2] and starring Malick, Warren Oates, Harry Dean Stanton (in a leading role),[3] and Paula Mandel.
[1][4] The story concerns two apparently 19th-century cowboys (Stanton and Malick) plotting to rob a bank in Texas, which they do in the 20th century.
Daylight assumes a tactile presence — though here it is not the diffuse "magic hour" light (i.e., malick-light) of later films, but a bold late afternoon sun that streams through leaves, creating shadow and dappled highlight on the characters' faces.
But what makes "Lanton Mills" feel completely different from Malick's later work is its unrestrained, anarchic comedy.
Though the jokes play out in an absurdist, disconcerting key, they still make us laugh (or at least shake our heads with a puzzled smile).