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| Angelina LookingGlass and Matthew McConaughey. Photo courtesy of Black Bear Pictures |
Indie films are able to achieve greatness when the people behind them are allowed to do their thing.
The Rivals of Amziah King (2025) is a hybrid indie/musical film because of how the score and musical performances are integrated into the film. The first scene is essentially a music video with a band of characters (one of which is folk musician Ben Hardesty of The Last Bison) gathered around a picnic table at a drive-up restaurant, playing a cover of the Avett Brothers’ “Talk of Indolence”.
Five other musical performances are woven into the plot through spontaneous performances around a kitchen table, at a weekly hangout, or at different potluck gatherings inside of grange halls. These gatherings provide different musicians the chance to perform, including a cameo by Shovels and Rope performing “Johnny Come Outside.” Though this becomes a sly needle drop, it represents how music is much more than supplementary in the film. The music and score weave together into a soundscape of Americana and folk that becomes the glue that holds everything together.
If the viewer allows themselves to be swept up in the joy and energy of this soundscape, they can overlook the film’s weaknesses. Two shocking and hilarious subplots are incredibly crowd-pleasing, though they elongate the film’s first act. Had this not been an indie film where director Andrew Patterson (The Vast of Night) was given free rein, these subplots may have been trimmed and the story been more cohesive. Still, these subplots add so much atmosphere, unpredictability, and dark comedy to the film.
The plot begins when Amziah King (McConaughey) stops into an out-of-the-way diner in Oklahoma and gets served coffee by Kateri (Angelina LookingGlass), one of his former foster kids. They reconnect, Kateri learns the honey business Amziah has built since she left, and she experiences all of King's musical friends. All throughout the first act, McConaughey is able to get in his twangy, philosophical monologues; this time they’re about potlucks, worker bees, and queens. Kurt Russel also has a small but significant role as Dob McCoy, a shady owner of a rival honey business.
But then a hard left-turn happens, and the film morphs into a kind of Western and heist film. This shift is challenging for those not locked in by the musical elements of the film. But even after the abrupt change, the music continues to bind it all together. Propulsive and music video-like editing by Patrick J. Smith (F1) also moves things swiftly along through the film’s 130 minutes.
This hybrid film is best enjoyed by letting yourself get swept away by the soundscape. Much like last year’s The Testament of Ann Lee, The Rivals of Amziah King is a film whose weaknesses are more than made up for by its music.
- Eric Beach