The Review of a Film Few Will Recall the Name of, but boy, what a film! ‘The Rivals of Amziah King’ film review
A foot-stomping introduction sets the rhythm for The Rivals of Amziah King, a beautifully crafted Southern tale of community, loyalty, crime… and honey, all with Matthew McConaughey at its folksy, charismatic centre.
As night falls over a small Oklahoma town, Amziah King (McConaughey) pulls his pickup truck into the local burger joint, where friends gather with guitars, fiddle, banjo and drums for an impromptu acoustic jam sesh. Even the local cops can’t resist rocking up for a bit of toe-tapping. The music isn’t merely background noise; it establishes the film’s pulse. If Mumford & Sons is your thing, prepare for some enjoyment here.
The plot wastes little time getting underway, opening with a honey heist that introduces an intriguing mixture of drama, mystery and crime. From there, we’re taken on a winding journey through the Oklahoma countryside, where bees and their honey become a metaphor for the community itself: everyone has a role, everyone is connected, and disturb the hive at your peril.
Our protagonist’s world is further complicated when he is reunited with a former foster child, Kateri, played by Native American actor Angelina LookingGlass, whom Amziah and his late wife once cared for. Their chance reunion eventually draws her back into the honey business — and, perhaps more importantly, gives her a sense of having found home again.
The film gradually reveals its characters and the complicated relationships that bind this community together. One of its most delightful sequences is a pot-luck dinner in the local community hall, where personalities emerge through shared stories, good food and plenty of laughter. McConaughey’s Amziah is the kind of character you could happily listen to spinning yarns all afternoon.
There is plenty of humour, too. A school lockdown caused by a swarm of bees is initially absurdly funny, until the situation reminds us how quickly things can turn dangerous.
Then there’s the town’s kingpin, played with cheek by Kurt Russell. Like the queen bee at the centre of a hive, his influence is everywhere — but underneath the surface lies exploitation, violence and a darker side to the community.
Director Andrew Patterson brings an almost hypnotic beauty to the Oklahoma landscape, with the cinematography here capturing both the majesty of nature and the intricate world of the bees – some of the most underrated species in all of biological study. There are echoes of the Coen Brothers’ O Brother, Where Art Thou?, a touch of Quentin Tarantino’s darkly comic violence, and even some Guy Ritchie-style camera flourishes and freeze frames.
Some may argue that The Rivals of Amziah King could have been shorter. One fellow moviegoer even suggested cutting some of the music.
Hell no.
The music, characters, community and enormous heart are precisely what make this film work. Even if you aren’t into acoustic country-style jamming (the Editor slowly puts his hand up), you’ll still get a kick out of this flick. Like a good hive, everything is connected — and it’s best experienced by settling in and letting the whole thing buzz around you.
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