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Directed by Andrew Patterson
An atmospheric crime.
Amziah King, beekeeper, musician, and anchor of his community, reunites with former foster daughter Kateri after many years apart, and fends off threats to his honey business.
The Rivals of Amziah King is showing in 3 cinemas in Amsterdam - next screening Tuesday 29 September at 11:00 at The Movies.
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The first half and the second half are basically different movies. I like the second movie but if the entire thing was the first movie it would be a contender for my favorite movie of the year. Pure transcendent movie joy, McConaughey the best he’s ever been. A movie about bees!!!!
We’re almost a full hour into this movie before its story finally kicks off. And when it does kick off, it’s kind of a shame. Because that plotless first hour of the movie is its best part. It’s a stylish collage of impromptu bluegrass sessions, pontifications about bees and honey, Matthew McConaughey’s larger than life personality, and amusing mini-stories as we get immersed in this Southern world and its characters.(I say “Southern,” but I guess the movie is technically set in Oklahoma. I think it works better to mentally set it where it was filmed, which is Alabama. None of the landscape here passes for Oklahoma anyway.)And don’t get me wrong, the main story is good too, and it retains a bit of the flavor of that first hour. But it’s much closer to the kind of thing we’ve all seen a million times — small-town crime and corruption stuff — just with bees and honey instead of meth or something.And now in honor of Scott Shepherd’s character in this movie, who I loved, I’ll tell my own amusing(?) mini-story. Once upon a time, I got in a cab in Savannah, Georgia to take me to see the Savannah Sand Gnats (yes, their team was called the Sand Gnats) play baseball. And the cabbie started chatting with me. So far, so normal, right? The thing was, this guy spoke exactly like Scott Shepherd in the movie — one hundred percent incomprehensible drawl. And he wouldn’t stop. I sat in the back seat of that cab expending every bit of mental energy I had trying to parse one sentence or even one word out of what he was saying. Meanwhile I was just going “Uh-huh … Yep … Oh sure … You bet …” and praying he wouldn’t ask me a question for which one-word agreement wasn’t an appropriate response. I’ve just never experienced that before or since — someone no doubt born and raised in this country and speaking English, and I couldn’t understand a single thing he was saying. Anyway, I don’t remember if the Sand Gnats won or lost that night, but I’ll never forget the cab ride, and hearing Shepherd in the movie brought it all back. The End.Included in list:2026 Movies Ranked
"I was in this strip club once, and the music stopped. Everyone heard me open my velcro wallet."Absolutely electric, as if someone merged Eagle Pennell, Rick Linklater, and Steven Soderbergh (and maybe even a little Sayles?) to make the ultimate Southwest caper dramedy. Feels like magical realism but isn't, simultaneously satisfyingly loose and very finely calibrated, with some of the most arresting editing I've seen in ages and a tantalizing focus on esoterica, both of procedure and community. Was that Queen Bitch I heard baked into the score? Great movie.
The film follows a beekeeper and musician in the American South who must navigate threats to his honey operation after reuniting with his former foster daughter.
Andrew Patterson directed the film, a filmmaker recognized for his previous feature The Vast of Night.
Yes, bluegrass music and song performances are central to the film's narrative and atmosphere.
The film received significant acclaim following its debut at the SXSW Film Festival.
