R | 2h 10m | Drama, Crime, Mystery, Thriller | 2026
In the interest of full disclosure, “The Rivals of Amziah King” (“Rivals”) is not a two-part movie, but rather one that is divided into two distinct halves.
There have been a few stories that were split in half (“Kill Bill,” the finales of “Harry Potter,” and “Twilight,” for example), but all of those were made into two films.
“Rivals” falls into an ultra-rare classification that few have attempted, and for good reason. It’s almost impossible to execute. Matthew McConaughey stars in the first half, Kurt Russell in the second, and they never share screen time.
The two best examples of this are “Full Metal Jacket” and “From Dusk Till Dawn.” The first is a training-camp Vietnam War movie, and the second is a prison escape and vampire thriller; both work well, but not as well as intended. “Rivals” works better than both of those movies, but some viewers will find the sudden shift in tone jarring.
The movie kicks off on a hot summer night at an Oklahoma burger joint. Local musicians gather in a weekly ritual. Led by banjoist Amziah King (Matthew McConaughey), the quintet churns out an eclectic mix of old-school country, bluegrass, and jazz-tinged folk music.
Fans of any or all of these genres will recognize the names of the score’s contributing musicians and composers: The Avett Brothers, T-Bone Burnett, Ben Hardesty, Eric Alexander, and Jared Bulmer.
Show Me the Honey
Not long after the music begins, a trio of detectives interrupts. For a split second, Amziah thinks he’s in hot water. As it turns out, the officers are reaching out to Amziah for his expertise regarding what appears to be a stolen 55-gallon barrel of unprocessed … honey.
Most people wouldn’t consider a barrel of raw honey particularly valuable. Its retail worth is actually in the mid-five figures, and a truckload would be over a quarter million dollars.
All of these barrels and all farmers’ hives contain a unique identifier, or brand. In the case of Amziah, it’s a “K” on the inside bottom. Determining this identifier involves a rather time-consuming process, as the raw honey is opaque and gelatinous; think lard or vegetable shortening.
Before processing the honey, one of Amziah’s associates sustains a serious injury, which provides the movie with its first of a handful of shocking plot twists.
Father and Child Reunion
The next day, still shaken and reeling, Amziah is eating at a diner, and his server is Kateri (Angelina LookingGlass), the now-young-adult woman who was once the foster child of Amziah and his late wife. The Native American Kateri is reserved but pleasant and perks up once the beaming Amziah offers her a paid internship to learn the ins and outs of the honey industry.
Kateri is a quick study, which serves her well when, at the halfway point, she is thrust into a position she didn’t yet want or foresee, but she quickly adapts and ultimately thrives.
Before this happens, Kateri needs to get her hands metaphorically dirty and slowly earns the grudging respect of Amziah’s competitors, save for Dob McCoy (Kurt Russell).
Recalling antagonist Don Fanucci (Gastone Moschin) from “The Godfather Part II,” Dob is clad in a white suit with matching shoes and a top hat, carrying an ornate walking stick.
Unlike Fanucci, Dob avoids the spotlight whenever possible and is adept at maintaining no direct connection to his multitude of illegal activities. His immense wealth allows him to outbid and outprice anyone he believes to be a threat.
Don’t Underestimate Her
Dob isn’t the only one who thinks the neophyte Kateri is an easy mark, and a few of them eventually find out that this isn’t the case, often with fatal results. This results in what could be called moral ambiguity regarding Kateri’s deeds. Is she playing dirty or simply adapting to the skewed rules of the game? There is no question that if she didn’t adapt, she could literally be dead in the water.
“Rivals” is the second feature from writer and director Andrew Patterson, whose 1950s-set 2019 debut film “The Vast of Night” put a unique spin on the alien invasion tropes. “Rivals” does the same thing with the contemporary Western.
Despite towering performances by heavyweights McConaughey and Russell, and a phenomenal debut from LookingGlass, this movie will be a tough sell to general audiences. Other than being a hair too long, there are no story or quality issues; it’s the title.
In addition to not being immediately clear, it’s clunky and forgettable. Had Patterson and the studio stuck with the movie’s title everywhere except in the United States (“Oklahoma Honey”), it would have certainly attracted the curiosity of far more potential domestic audiences.
The movie opens in theaters nationwide on Aug. 21.
‘The Rivals of Amziah King’
Director: Andrew Patterson
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Angelina LookingGlass, Rob Morgan, Kurt Russell
Running Time: 2 hours, 10 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Release Date: Aug. 21, 2026 (wide)
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
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