The Rivals of Amziah King

The Rivals of Amziah King
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAndrew Patterson
Written byAndrew Patterson[a]
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyMiguel I. Littin-Menz
Edited byPatrick J. Smith
Music by
  • Erick Alexander
  • Jared Bulmer
  • Ben Hardesty
Production
companies
Distributed byBlack Bear Pictures
Release dates
  • March 10, 2025 (2025-03-10) (SXSW)
  • August 14, 2026 (2026-08-14) (United States)
Running time
131 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States[1][2]
LanguageEnglish
Box office$2.8 million[3][4]

The Rivals of Amziah King is a 2025 American neo-Western[5] crime thriller film written and directed by Andrew Patterson and produced by Black Bear Pictures and Heyday Films. It stars Matthew McConaughey, Angelina LookingGlass, Scott Shepherd, Rob Morgan, Tony Revolori, and Kurt Russell.

It had its world premiere at the South by Southwest Festival on March 10, 2025, and was theatrically released in the United States on August 14, 2026.

Plot

In rural Oklahoma, beekeeper and bluegrass musician Amziah King is called on by OSBI Agent Sunderland to identify a truckload of stolen honey. Amziah's former employee Remmick arrives with his friend Colmar to help, but the honey extractor tears off Colmar's scalp. Retrieving the scalp and Colmar's lucky hat, Amziah and his right-hand man Jimmy speed to the hospital, where Amziah receives medication for his heart condition.

Amziah reunites with his former foster Native American daughter Kateri, who just lost her mother, sharing his homespun philosophy about church potlucks and introducing her to his musician friends and Brazilian American neighbors. He offers her a job caring for his honeybee farm, and they spend a chaotic day removing a swarm of bees from an elementary school, as she comes to share his love for the honeybee, bluegrass music, and their tight-knit community.

Amziah's hives are stolen, and the shock leads him to suffer a fatal heart attack. Following his death, his lawyer and bandmate Rippy informs Kateri that she has inherited his struggling honey business with incurring debt, to which she refuses to sell, determined to find the thieves and continue Amziah's legacy. Jailed for drunk driving, Jimmy urges Kateri to track down the hives, but her inquiries turn up empty as the business runs out of honey.

An owner of the previously stolen honey points Kateri to a fellow beekeeper who unknowingly bought some of Amziah's missing hives. With the information-gathering services of paroled criminal Oat, Kateri discovers that Amziah's bees were stolen by Wenyon Amos Stone, a thieving beekeeper working for powerful businessman Dob McCoy. Following Wenyon, Kateri locks him in his overheated honey processing room, killing him.

Kateri enlists Remmick's help to steal back Amziah's bees. They sneak onto Wenyon's remote property, floating the hives on makeshift rafts down the river to their getaway truck. The heist is caught on camera, and Remmick is arrested for breaking parole. The recovered bees and honey are sent to auction, and Rippy helps raise money for Kateri but she is outbid by Dob, who has grown rich by taking advantage of his neighbors.

Vowing to destroy Dob's life, the vengeful Kateri nearly poisons his dog, and realizes that he is caring for his critically ill wife. At a church potluck, Kateri secretly prepares a meal for Dob to bring his wife, poisoning her with castor beans. Her suspicious death enables Sunderland and the police to attempt to arrest Dob on murder charges, who leads them on a high-speed chase. Dob is struck by a freight train and flees in a stolen truck but is pursued by armed citizens in another pickup and gunned down. Following his death, Sunderland is able to expose his crimes.

Remmick and Jimmy are paroled, joining Kateri and their friends in stealing back Amziah's hives again, and a sympathetic Sunderland considers the matter closed. Having fulfilled her revenge and saved Amziah's beloved bees, Kateri is determined to become the new queen bee of the local honey trade.

Cast

Production

In May 2023, it was announced that Andrew Patterson wrote and would direct The Rivals of Amziah King, with Matthew McConaughey starring and Black Bear Pictures financing the film.[12][13] Patterson had been developing the film since 2020; Prior to McConaughey joining the film, Denzel Washington met with Patterson for the lead role but demanded more creative control than Patterson was comfortable offering.[14]

In July 2023, Kurt Russell was cast in the film.[15][16] Rob Morgan, Scott Shepherd, Cole Sprouse, Owen Teague, Tony Revolori, Jake Horowitz and Angelina LookingGlass quietly joined the cast around the same time with LookingGlass chosen over 200 other candidates.[17][14]

Filming occurred in Alabama during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike in which SAG-AFTRA granted the filmmakers an interim agreement to allow principal photography to occur during the strike.[18] In August 2023, it was announced that filming wrapped in Alabama.[19][20]

During a lengthy post-production, Patterson faced creative clashes with his producers before his vision ultimately won out.[14] There was an alternate cut overseen by unsatisfied producers that ultimately tested lower than Patterson's.

Release

It had its world premiere at the 2025 South by Southwest Film & TV Festival on March 10, 2025.[2][21] In August 2025, Black Bear Pictures announced that they would release the film themselves theatrically through their new U.S. distribution division, with a release date to be announced.[22] The film is scheduled to be released in limited theaters on August 14, before going wide in the United States on August 21, 2026.[23][24]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 89% of 102 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.1/10. The website's consensus reads: "The Rivals of Amziah King is a sprawling, unpredictable, and genre-blurring epic, anchored by Matthew McConaughey's charm and Angelina LookingGlass's striking debut."[25] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 74 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[26]

Notes

  1. 1 2 Credited as James Montague

References

  1. 1 2 "The Rivals of Amziah King [M]". Australian Classification Board. March 12, 2026. Retrieved March 13, 2026.
  2. 1 2 "The Rivals of Amziah King". 2025 South by Southwest Film & TV Festival. Archived from the original on August 13, 2025. Retrieved May 15, 2026.
  3. ↑ "The Rivals of Amziah King". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 30, 2026.
  4. ↑ "The Rivals of Amziah King - Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved August 21, 2026.
  5. ↑ Richard, Nate (March 17, 2025). "'The Rivals of Amziah King' Review: Matthew McConaughey Neo-Western Dramedy Is Far More Than Just "Alright, Alright, Alright"". Collider. Retrieved August 3, 2026.
  6. ↑ Lane, Keith (May 19, 2023). "Matthew McConaughey thriller to film in Alabama". WPMI-TV. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Grobar, Matt (June 11, 2024). "Kurt Russell, Cole Sprouse, Owen Teague & Five More Join Matthew McConaughey In Black Bear Thriller 'The Rivals Of Amziah King'". Deadline Hollywood.
  8. ↑ Sapp, Savannah (July 20, 2023). "Kurt Russell spotted filming on a rural road in Albertville". WAFF (TV). Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  9. ↑ Garrison, Greg (July 26, 2023). "Kurt Russell makes movie magic in Mulga, the town that time forgot". Al.com. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  10. ↑ "The Rivals of Amziah King". IMBD. Retrieved June 29, 2026.
  11. ↑ Patterson, Andrew (August 12, 2026). ""There's a Certain Code in That World": Andrew Patterson Interview". In Review Online. Retrieved August 18, 2026.
  12. ↑ Tartaglione, Nancy (May 8, 2023). "Matthew McConaughey To Star In 'The Rivals Of Amziah King' From 'Vast Of Night' Filmmaker Andrew Patterson – Cannes". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
  13. ↑ Rubin, Rebecca (May 8, 2023). "Matthew McConaughey to Star in Crime Thriller 'Rivals of Amziah King'". Variety. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
  14. 1 2 3 Canfield, David (August 10, 2026). "Inside the Scrappy Film That Brought Matthew McConaughey Back to Acting". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 10, 2026.
  15. ↑ Bailey, Mary (July 21, 2023). "Kurt Russell makes acting appearance in county". The Sand Mountain Reporter. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  16. ↑ Specker, Lawrence (July 20, 2023). "Kurt Russell tears up Alabama dirt road as Matthew McConaughey movie films". The Dothan Eagle.
  17. ↑ Grobar, Matt (June 11, 2024). "Kurt Russell, Cole Sprouse, Owen Teague & Five More Join Matthew McConaughey In Black Bear Thriller 'The Rivals Of Amziah King'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  18. ↑ Flanagan, Ben (July 18, 2023). "Matthew McConaughey movie still shooting in Alabama despite Hollywood strikes: Here's why". Al.com. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  19. ↑ Rajput, Priyanca (August 7, 2023). "Matthew McConaughey's The Rivals of Amziah King wraps production in Alabama". KFTV.com. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  20. ↑ Flanagan, Ben (August 3, 2023). "Matthew McConaughey movie wraps production in Alabama". Al.com. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  21. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (February 5, 2025). "SXSW Rounds Out 2025 Film Lineup: Jacob Elordi Pic 'On Swift Horses' Closing Fest; Jillian Bell's 'Summer Of 69' Making World Premiere". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  22. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (August 15, 2025). "Matthew McConaughey's 'Rivals of Amziah King' Eyes U.S. Release". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 28, 2025.
  23. ↑ Vlessing, Etan (January 14, 2026). "Black Bear Sets 2026 Releases for Matthew McConaughey's 'The Rivals Of Amziah King,' Guy Ritchie's 'Wife & Dog'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
  24. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (January 14, 2026). "Black Bear Sets Release Dates For 'Tuner', 'Rivals Of Amziah King', 'Spa Weekend' and 'Wife & Dog'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
  25. ↑ "The Rivals of Amziah King". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved August 27, 2026.
  26. ↑ "The Rivals of Amziah King". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved August 27, 2026.
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