I did not have “Matthew McConaughey as a bluegrass-playing honey businessman” on my movie bingo card. Maybe I should have.
The trailer for The Rivals of Amziah King dropped, and I’m invested in whatever this strange little movie is doing.
It’s got rural Oklahoma. Bluegrass. Family tension. Rival honey operations, which sounds made up but is apparently the actual plot. It’s got Kurt Russell. And it’s got McConaughey doing the loose, charming, slightly dangerous thing that made him fun to watch before he started feeling more like a luxury car commercial with a mission to impart life lessons to the world at large.
Wait, Why Do I Care About a Honey Rivalry Movie
There was a stretch when McConaughey could walk into a movie and instantly make it better and, often, weirder. Then came the McConaissance, which was admittedly great. But then came whatever he’s been doing since, which has been ‘fine’ at best. This is his first time back in a theater since 2019‘s The Gentlemen (he popped up on Apple TV+ in The Lost Bus in between), and I’m excited to see what he does with it.
A Movie That Refuses to Pick a Lane
What intrigues me most is that I have no idea what genre this movie fits in. Crime movie? Family drama? Southern fable? Music story? A honey-adjacent revenge saga? All of the above, apparently.
Will the movie live up to the trailer? No idea. But this one got me — and for the first time in a while, I’m not just noticing McConaughey is in something. I’m actually excited to see what he does.
The Rivals of Amziah King, directed by Andrew Patterson and featuring Angelina Lookingglass and Cole Sprouse, hits limited theaters on August 14, wide release on August 21.
![Joey King & Taylor Zakhar Perez Being Adorable [Actors on Actors]](https://variety.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Variety-Actors-on-Actors-King-Perez.jpg "Joey King & Taylor Zakhar Perez Being Adorable [Actors on Actors]")
