(Check out Chris Reed’s The Rivals of Amziah King, it’s in theaters now. Seen it? Join the conversation with HtN on our Letterboxd Page.)
The Rivals of Amziah King is only writer/director Andrew Patterson’s second feature—the first was the wholly original 2019 The Vast of Night—yet you wouldn’t know it from the artistic confidence of his mise-en-scène. From the freeze frames and quick cuts in the opener to the elliptical jumps through time and space throughout, Patterson’s new work constantly overflows with the joy of creation. Does that mean that some of the narrative is also messy? Yes, but the payoff is, for the most part, worth the journey.
Matthew McConaughey (The Beach Bum) stars in the title role as a longtime beekeeper, honey producer, and musician in Oklahoma who takes his pleasures from the company of insects and friends. A widower, he is surrounded by a warm community of fellow music lovers—most of them neighbors—who fill his days and nights with harmony. When he runs into a former foster daughter, Kateri (Angelina LookingGlass, making her screen debut), at a diner, it’s an obvious thing for him to reconnect and invite her home.
She, as we see, has only the fondest of memories from her time with Amziah and his deceased wife. It was the death of the latter that caused the state to take her away, eventually reconnecting her and her brother with an occasionally unstable mother. Now that she is an adult and back in the area, Kateri is more than happy to accept Amziah’s hospitality (and offer of work) once more.
We don’t start with this reunion, however, but rather with a wild introduction to Amziah’s world and the characters within it, delivered with a fast-paced rhythm that belies some of the calm ahead. It’s fun, a little nuts, and a bit gross (there’s blood). In short, a terrific way to start the narrative.
And then, after we lean into Kateri’s homecoming, Patterson switches gears again (no major spoilers here), taking the story in an unexpected direction (though one implicit to some degree in the title). Amazingly, despite the constant threat of violence as events grow more complicated, there’s only one gunshot in the entire movie. In true Chekhovian fashion, it is presaged from an earlier setup; a big bang, but especially surprising in how there aren’t more like it.
The ensemble cast is strong, McConaughey and LookingGlass both excellent but not alone. Among the rest, there’s Bruce Davis (Candy Land), Jake Horowitz (The Vast of Night), Rob Morgan (Bull), Tony Revolori (The Long Dumb Road), Scott Shepherd (Killers of the Flower Moon), Owen Teague (You Hurt My Feelings), and even the great Kurt Russell (as a juicy villain). Mixing action, comedy, and well-earned sentiment, Patterson delivers a film as rich in texture as it is unpredictable in plot, buoyed by wonderful music and some gentle commentary (with not-so-gentle consequences) on indigenous retribution. Playful and meaningful at the same time? I’ll take it.
– Christopher Llewellyn Reed (@ChrisReedFilm)
