The Rivals of Amziah King: The Neo-Western Return of Matthew McConaughey

One of the motion picture’s greatest strengths is the spur it gives to the unanswerable: what’s in Marcellus Wallace’s briefcase? Which scientist is the Thing? Is Cobb still dreaming at the end of Inception? Such quandaries wrack the mind of the contemporary movie freak, though there’s one that many of us have asked about for the last seven years: where the hell has Matthew McConaughey been? He’s on the sidelines at every Texas Longhorns game; he’s doing Uber Eats ads and writing children’s books; he even co-founded a whole tequila brand with his wife. In short, the guy’s been doing everything except acting—until now. Starring in writer-director Andrew Patterson’s The Rivals of Amziah King, Matthew McConaughey is officially back (for now).

Here lies the rub: The Rivals of Amziah King premiered at SXSW in March 2025, languishing in post-production for over a year. Not much is clear about why the delay happened aside from studio Black Bear taking North American distribution, though audiences can rest easy knowing the wait is over. An impossible-to-grasp multi-genre mosaic of modern southern Americana, The Rivals of Amziah King’s amalgam of neo-western, heist-thriller, musical, and slapstick comedy is equally puzzling as it is enjoyable. Centered around the titular beekeeper (McConaughey) and his adopted daughter Kateri (LookingGlass), the film finds them part of a truly strange sequence of events in their small Oklahoman community. Baffling as it is, its novel originality and sentimentality balance out the puzzling idiosyncrasies.

To say that the film is hard to pin down would be quite the understatement. It is not exactly a “crazy” movie, but it is quite eclectic in both tone and form. It’s not every day you see a heist film about honey, particularly one with some very charming musical sequences. Between a graphic workplace incident, bee-thievery, an adopted-family reunion, and a big bad capitalist tycoon played by Kurt Russell, there’s more than enough to go around within the film’s 131-minute runtime. Though not completely devoid of wheel spinning, it’s hard to call it boring or disengaging. For better or worse, The Rivals of Amziah King is a completely original work of filmmaking.

As a proud McConaughite, I pined by my window for the Dazed and Confused breakout’s sweet return. McConaughey’s most recent film, Paul Greengrass’ The Lost Bus—a disaster film based on the 2018 Camp Fire in California—was a complete and utter snoozer, further exacerbating the hunger for his silver-screen reunion. Until The Lost Bus, every non-book or alcoholic project from Matthew McConaughey was either a voice role, a musical, or a commercial, so it is nice to see him back with some actual meat to work with. King is an offbeat, affable, and lived-in figure—two qualities of McConaughey’s that shine through every role. It is simply a pleasure to have McConaughey back in a real film, but let’s hope he maintains this path.

Don’t let the title fool you; The Rivals of Amziah King isn’t entirely McConaughey’s show. Patterson places much of the narrative in the hands of LookingGlass, who carries the narrative under McConaughey’s overarching presence. She takes much of the emotional brunt of Patterson’s affectionate screenplay with poise, often making fools of many of King’s titular rivals with a calculated swagger. Joined by a plethora of performers like an incoherent Scott Shepherd, a diner worker played by Cole Sprouse, and a guitarist played by Tony Revolori, The Rivals of Amziah King is a total charcuterie board of familiar faces. Boasting a stellar ensemble all around, above all else, LookingGlass seems to have a bright future ahead.

On the topic of bright futures, Patterson’s sophomore feature feels like the announcement of a new, strong voice in independent filmmaking. His debut, The Vast of Night, an X-Files-esque sci-fi mystery based on the Kecksburg UFO debacle, was an early COVID banger that approached moderate virality in the stay-at-home cinephile circuit. After a formal and functional debut that went semi-viral as we were all sequestered in our respective hidey-holes, it’s kind of shocking that Patterson’s next film would take five years to release—particularly after a warm reception at SXSW 2025. Whatever the reason, he is a competent filmmaker and an even more interesting writer, so here’s to hoping movie number three comes sooner rather than later.

After an eternity of waiting, The Rivals of Amziah King is here, and it’s far from expected. It’s as unorthodox as neo-westerns come, accented (sometimes literally) by a surprisingly memorable ensemble cast of new and old faces. Those expecting a rootin’, tootin’, grandiose “Welcome back!” Western for Matthew McConaughey will instead find a patient, funny, humanistic drama about a girl trying to do the right thing—a timely sticking-it-to-the-man that’ll certainly be a crowd-pleaser of some variety. The Rivals of Amziah King is quite the odd movie, but it’s that oddness that makes me view it with fondness. Despite its eyebrow-raising unevenness in genre, I found Andrew Patterson’s latest to be(e) rather sweet.

still courtesy of Elevation Pictures

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Luca Mehta