There are plenty of movies about criminal underworlds, family businesses, and turf wars. Fewer of them build that world around bluegrass, beekeeping, and a honey operation deep in rural Oklahoma. But that is part of the strange promise of “The Rivals Of Amziah King,” the sophomore feature from Andrew Patterson, whose debut, “The Vast Of Night,” turned a tiny sci-fi mystery into one of the decade’s more assured calling-card indies (read our review)
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Black Bear has released the new trailer for Patterson’s latest, with Matthew McConaughey starring as Amaziah King, a charismatic, musically gifted beekeeper who runs the premier honey-making operation in his corner of Oklahoma. He also leads a ragtag bluegrass-playing band of misfits, which gives the film an oddball Americana surface before its sharper edges come into view.
The setup turns on the return of Amaziah’s estranged foster daughter, played by Angelina LookingGlass, whose arrival gives him a chance to rebuild an old bond and turn his local honey business into something resembling a family enterprise. But the honey game, apparently, is not for the soft-hearted. Amaziah’s rivals begin circling, and what starts as a story of reunion and second chances pushes into rougher territory as outsiders threaten to tear down everything he has built.
The film also stars Kurt Russell, Cole Sprouse, Tony Revolori, and Owen Teague, giving Patterson a much larger ensemble and canvas than “The Vast Of Night.” That expansion was already apparent when “The Rivals Of Amziah King” premiered at SXSW in 2025, where The Playlist’s Chase Hutchinson called the film “part loving musical, part delicate dramedy, part scrappy underdog tale” and praised McConaughey and LookingGlass as the heart of the film.
McConaughey has been largely absent from live-action roles in recent years, which adds an extra layer of curiosity to “The Rivals Of Amziah King.” But the stronger hook may be Patterson himself. “The Vast Of Night” was a modest, formally precise debut about signal-chasing, small-town mythology, and the thrill of a filmmaker figuring out exactly how to stretch a limited budget. “Amziah King” sounds like a very different beast: rural, musical, violent, emotional, and built around community as much as conflict.
Black Bear’s own CinemaCon materials described the film as centered on Amaziah’s bluegrass band, his honey-making operation, and the foster daughter whose return threatens his makeshift family and livelihood. The film opens in theaters on August 14.
“The Rivals Of Amziah King” arrives in theaters August 14 via Black Bear. Watch the trailer below.
