An Original Surprise of Bees and Music
I love a movie year loaded with surprises. A long list of risks and rewards, chances taken on the smallest of projects that strike a chord with audiences and leave them soaring. Directorial debuts cracking top 10 lists, indie horror films made for nothing crushing the box office, and more and more studios realizing that the key to success is letting people make and watch movies. The Rivals of Amziah King is another out-of-nowhere hit, a genre-mashing epic packed with warm blanket familiarity yet unlike anything I’ve ever seen. A testament to music and community, this little gem goes down like smooth southern honey. Riveting action, feet-tapping musical numbers, heartfelt characters and connections, and laugh-out-loud comedy – there’s a little something for everyone in The Rivals of Amziah King.
Andrew Peterson injects a southern heart and soul into his Neo-western crime thriller, punctuating the first two acts with a slice-of-life character-building before launching into an all-out revenge/crime caper. There’s a heavy dose of Coen Brothers hijinks and humor that make up the first hour of Rivals of Amziah King, creating a fully lived-in world through music and bees. I could’ve spent hours in this small middle-of-nowhere southern town, learning the ins and outs of the community there and how they make it through their day. Peterson feels at home just being at home with a camera, welcoming us into a world unknown and serenating us with infectious bluegrass and more knowledge about the honey business than a history book.
An Unpredictable Experience
While all of that may not sound like your cup of Tennessee Whiskey – Mumford & Sons and a History of Honey? – The Rivals of Amziah King is so much more than that if you’re willing to give it a chance. It’s honestly hard to even describe, as Peterson creates such a rich, vibrant world you want to experience. He crafts something truly unpredictable here. Even with its heavy dose of sentimentality and cliches and genre smashing, Peterson is able to keep you guessing from one moment to the next. It’s a whirlwind of exciting and banjos, bees and honey making, heroes and villains, even thrilling car chases across the backwoods dirt roads. Rivals of Amziah King is relentlessly entertaining and possesses all of the right ingredients to deliver a tried-and-true crowd pleaser.
Trying to give a worthy synopsis for something like this is challenging, but I’ll do my best. Amziah King (McConaughey) is the king honey maker in a small town in Oklahoma. He’s a pillar of the tight-knit community and clearly loves what he does. His band plays the local music hall and jams out regularly, a uniter of families and people from everywhere. While investigating some mystery honey that has been stolen on behalf of the local law enforcement, he is reunited with his foster daughter Kateri (LookingGlass) whom he takes under his wing and teaches her about the trade.
The honey business is a dangerous one, and it soon becomes clear that King has rivals who will stop at nothing to bring him down. After all of their colonies are stolen resulting in some devastating consequences, Kateri must use all she’s learned to seek justice and save their business.
McConaughey Has Never Been Better
It’s hard to believe that it’s been more than 5 years since we’ve seen Matthew McConaughey on screen (The Lost Bus being his real return in that same amount of time), at least in a feature film. He’s never been better, his southern charm dialed up to a million as Amziah, reminding us all that when he’s on, he is undeniable. McConaughey has never been better, completely dialed into Peterson’s wavelength and carrying the entire first half of the film on his shoulders. Normally I would mark this a detriment as it often means the material needs saving, but a tremendous performance. But Rivals of Amziah King is the exception. McConaughey is able to shine bright not in spite of the material but rather because of it. Peterson’s script is sharp and gives his lead plenty to chew on and plays to his strengths often.
For all of its wild, genre-changing antics and high-stakes heists and clashes (filmed brilliantly by the way), there’s an undercurrent of sweetness that moves like a river throughout the film. I could legitimately watch McConaughey describe the intricacies of a community potluck for hours. It’s these little touches of tenderness that make every moment sing with emotion, every musical number bursting with soul and purpose. It’s healing and welcoming, a testament to found family and community in an ever-growing, isolated world. McConaughey brings that out in every moment he’s on screen, and even when there’s nothing objectively exciting happening, you are leaned all the way forward, engrossed in every moment.
A Striking Debut and Some Stand Out Sequences
Angelina LookGlass delivers a striking debut. An unsure observer and student in the first half turned confident mentor and self-reliant queen bee in the second. There’s a naturalism to her performance, and you can feel the loving history between King and Kateri just by the way they look at each other or tend to the bees together. No exposition needed; the two leads carry Amziah King, supported by an enthralling script and some stunning action sequences. Peterson makes sure you love and root for our heroes, and hold your breath as they face each new escalating challenge. The Rivals of Amziah King is both patient and nonstop, never rushing any particular moment but always moving forward.
Two sequences that really stand out – aside from the many incredibly shot bee sequences and musical numbers – are the opening and a honey heist. Yes, there really is a honey heist in Rivals of Amziah King, so well shot and creative Danny Ocean would be proud. LookingGlass largely takes over the second half of the film, and there’s some longing for McConaughey’s undeniable charm in the first half that you start to miss him. But Peterson understands this and creates some unforgettable filmmaking moments and visuals – the honey heist sequence being one of them. The opening sequence, a musical number over some Southern fried tater tots that turns into a late-night honey mystery, serves as a beautiful foundation for what kind of movie you’re about to watch.
It’s almost disorienting at first as Peterson doesn’t really let you catch your bearings for the first 20 minutes. It moves from one challenge to the next, adding a collection of characters introduced through fast-talking back-and-forths and rip-roaring shenanigans. It’s wild and funny and educational – a Coen-inspired beginning to be sure – but settles down a bit once LookingGlass shows up. It never stops, though, and once we’re off to the races, we’re full steam ahead. Miguel I. Littin-Menz’s cinematography provides a gritty realism to its setting. That grainy, 35mm film aesthetic only enhances the lived-in vibes Rivals of Amziah King creates. There’s an experimental quality to its construction, as if Peterson kept saying “wouldn’t it be cool if we did it like THIS” and then figured out a way to do that.
Final Thoughts
The Rivals of Amziah King is an audacious experiment of a film, wholly unique and original filmmaking that feels off the beaten path of but fully realized and accomplished. I’ve got one major complaint that I can’t quite shake, one that attempts to be covered by a core theme statement, “ain’t no one all bad or all good,” but never really does enough to sell the idea or justify some of the actions taken by Kateri in the latter half. It’s still left me a little confused, and it’s the only thing that doesn’t really work for me, so much so that I’m forced to lower my rating ever so slightly from near perfect.
Outside of that though, The Rivals of Amziah King is everything I love about cinema. We say it all the time: we want original films. Well folks, it doesn’t get more original than this. It’s alive and beautiful, riveting and heartfelt, powerful and exciting.
We are not alone, however much it may feel that way. Somehow a film about honey and bees and revenge gives us a lesson we need now more than ever. Community will always trump isolationism. Loving your neighbor is better than hating them. Respecting the world around us is better than trying to destroy it. And sometimes doing what’s right means doing a little wrong sometimes. And ya, great food is the universal unifier, and nothing is as sweet as honey made with love and shared with loved ones.
The Rivals of Amziah King is one of the best hidden gems of the year, one with some profound messaging beneath its wild unfolding and so much heart it will leave you singing.
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