It has been far too long since Matthew McConaughey has been in a narrative feature. After The Gentleman, he found himself busy with things away from the big screen, but his return was sure to draw attention. The Rivals of Amziah King comes from director Andrew Patterson, whose The Vast of Night showed incredible promise as a feature debut. With The Rivals of Amziah King, Patterson proves his unique eye has only grown since then. With incredible style and unique editing, it feels like Patterson is on the road to becoming one of our great talents.
The Rivals of Amziah King — The Plot
The Rivals of Amziah King follows the titular character (McConaughey) as he reconnects with a former foster child, Kateri (Angelina LookingGlass). As a beekeeper, he relies on the local community to help buy his goods, and in return, he tries to help many stand up when they’re knocked down. However, Amziah faces unusual pressures from others in his industry, with a businessman (Kurt Russell) actively trying to buy away his bees. Kateri grows through this new experience with Amziah and learns to embrace her inner power to shine a light on the community.
Andrew Patterson and Matthew McConaughey lead a stellar cast to greatness.
The power of The Rivals of Amziah King begins in the community. Every character gets fully fleshed out over the runtime through their interactions with each other, and the humor is infectious. However, the emotional beats stick with us as McConaughey slowly brings people together. Slowly placing friends and family into the spotlight gives each a chance to grow. The Rivals of Amziah King needs these moments to work to pull off its other ambitions, and we have no shortage of brilliance between scene partners. If the right distributor picks it up, McConaughey will undeniably be in the awards conversation.
The editing and music also stand out in the craft. It’s hard enough to imagine stringing together many of these scenes, but Patterson upends the audience’s expectations with unusual editing rhythms. They remain consistent within scenes and often the overarching story, but in the process, Patterson asks you to live in the moments of The Rivals of Amziah King as if they’re photographs. At times, Patterson’s slick editing and writing feel like a series of vignettes, but by the end of The Rivals of Amziah King, the puzzle pieces fall into place.
The other aspect that Patterson excels at creating is a cohesive ensemble. Every character gets huge moments, and the balance of each member helps the crew stand out. It’s never down to a single performer to carry The Rivals of Amziah King. Instead, Patterson shares the burden and weaves a complicated tapestry in the process. No one is purely good or purely bad. They’re all just flawed humans who make mistakes. While some actions will appear despicable to the audience, throughout The Rivals of Amziah King, we will also cheer for bad things.
The Rivals of Amziah King does fall into one trap that’s hard to overcome. As saint-like as McConaughey and LookingGlass are in their roles, there are too many moments of actors standing still while someone else in the scene stares at them. Watching actors watch other actors is rarely cinematic, and these scenes often go on too long. Part of this comes from Patterson’s interpretation of memory on camera, but simultaneously, we feel the length as time stretches. Slight trims here would do wonders.
Is The Rivals of Amziah King worth watching?
McConaughey’s return would be reason enough to check out The Rivals of Amziah King. However, how the story subverts your expectations and births new stars make it a must-watch. Patterson has fully established himself as a phenom director, and we need to keep an eye on what he does next. As The Rivals of Amziah King insists, there will always be big organizations looking to corrupt someone truly creative and good-natured. We hope that Patterson continues to resist the big studio for-hire projects and instead continues to create films in his unique vision. The Rivals of Amziah King is an excellent sophomore feature that deserves all eyes on it.
Watch The Rivals of Amziah King at SXSW 2025. It does not currently have distribution.
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