By George & Josh Bate
In 2020, Andrew Patterson burst on the scene with his feature directorial debut The Vast of Night, a low-budget sci-fi period piece that engrossed with its intergalactic scope and ambitious filmmaking. It’s taken a few years for Patterson to follow his debut up with a sophomore effort, but, rest assured, he makes it worth the wait with a warm, jolting, and unpredictable cobbling together of seemingly countless discrepant genres.
The Rivals of Amiziah King stars Matthew McConaughey as the titular character, a charismatic musician who oversees a honey-making operation in rural Oklahoma. As Amziah’s former foster daughter Kateri (Angelina LookingGlass) returns after a long absence, the beekeeper jumps at the chance to reforge a connection with a girl who means much to him and who he wishes to embark on a family business with. But, for as wholesome and critical beekeeping and honey-making seems, the business surrounding these activities proves ruthless.
Patterson’s film begins on a warm evening at a fast food drive-in where Amziah King and a collective of his good-natured musician pals bask in the joy of music in scenic rural Oklahoma. It’s the kind of start to a film that suggests a wholesome, intimate music drama is going to unfold. And, indeed, The Rivals of Amiziah King is all of these things: wholesome, intimate, and dramatic. But oh, is it so much more.
Early on in his film’s bulky 131 runtime, Patterson pulls the rug out from under his audience with a jump scare that rivals any the average horror movie has to offer. From there, the filmmaker makes it clear that the proceeding viewing experience will mirror the unpredictability of life. That means twists and turns come out of nowhere, things go from mundane to mayhem real quick, and every stretch can be characterized by a different genre.
This latter point proves to be The Rivals of Amziah King’s greatest strength, alongside its propensity for a handful of narrative jolts destined to generate audible gasps from viewers. As stated, Patterson’s film is a music drama in that music plays a critical role in setting the tone and anchoring the movie’s championing of community. But Patterson frequently pivots away from the music and toward other genres. At times, his film plays like a coming-of-age story. Other times, it feels like a whodunnit. Occasionally, it’s a Western or a heist movie. Then, just when you think you have a grasp on what box Patterson’s movie fits in, it throws in another couple genres, such as absurdist comedy, crime drama, and revenge thriller.
Patterson’s seamless weaving in and out of a variety of genres not only mirrors the volatility of life itself. It makes for a film that delightfully offers just about everything one could possibly want from a movie. There’s shades of Edgar Wright, Guy Ritchie, and Wes Anderson in The Rivals of Amziah King, yet it is clearly the product of a filmmaker with a singular vision, one that is deeply informed by the culture he was raised in.
As expected, Matthew McConaughey effortlessly steps into Patterson’s world. Amziah’s folksy wit and proclivity for spouting one-liner wisdoms out of nowhere render him an instantly lovable character. He remains joyous, even amidst great stress, and is about as infallible as protagonists get, albeit not in a heavy-handed way. McConaughey brings extraordinary warmth and charm to a movie that champions the importance of found family and care for others, including nature.
Despite playing a character whose name features in the title, however, McConaughey is secondary to newcomer Angelina LookingGlass, who makes her film debut here. LookingGlass steps into a leading role with the composure of a far more seasoned veteran of acting, such is the on-screen presence she brings to Patterson’s film.
Unfortunately, the simultaneous positioning of LookingGlass’ character as the lead character and failure to fully connect to her undermines the quality of The Rivals of Amziah King. The relationship between Kateri and Amziah can be touching on occasion, but it never quite shakes the feeling that things are a bit too good. A bit too wholesome.
As the story progresses, the audience’s emotional distance from Kateri grows. Without allocating ample time to understanding her inner-workings, each and every major decision she makes facilitates an increasing disconnect between her and the viewer. How can we truly empathize with a character whose actions are often underexplored and whose emotions are so kept under such stoic wraps.
Thankfully, the film finds its footing again in its final stretch. The concluding message certainly tugs at the heartstrings and nicely parallels a key sequence from nearer the beginning of the film, poetically bookending a carefully structured and engineered story.
VERDICT: 7.5/10
The Rivals of Amziah King finds filmmaker Andrew Patterson return seven years after his breakout directorial debut The Vast of Night with a vastly different sophomore effort, one that can be best described as a warm, jolting, and unpredictable cobbling together of seemingly countless discrepant genres. Subverting expectations every step of the way with all manner of twists, turns, and moments destined to elicit audible gasps from audiences, the film excels in mirroring the unpredictability and volatility of life. In part, Patterson achieves this mirroring by seamlessly shifting between genres and somehow fusing music drama, crime, heist, coming-of-age, whodunnit, revenge thriller, absurdist comedy, and intimate character study with tremendous success. Matthew McConaughey plays the titular character with a folksy wit and proclivity for spouting one-liner wisdoms out of nowhere that render him an instantly lovable character, while newcomer Angelina LookingGlass leads the film with the composure of a seasoned veteran of acting. Unfortunately, the film errs in keeping LookingGlass’ character Kateri at an emotional distance from the audience, failing to let one understand the depth of her emotions and actions. Thankfully, the film regains its footing with a powerful conclusion that poetically ties to the first act and champions the importance of community, found family, and care for others, including nature. With two films under his belt, Andrew Patterson has proven he is a filmmaker whose every effort demands immediate attention. The Vast of Night and The Rivals of Amziah King couldn’t be more dissimilar from one another, and yet they share a craft, intimacy, and singularity of vision moviegoers are fortunate to behold.