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Now Playing: ‘The Rivals of Amziah King’, a story about bees, bluegrass, and the honey business, is one of the year’s best films

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It’s a great feeling. You’re watching a movie, and you have no idea where it’s going to head next.

Watching this movie felt like going on an adventure—a bizarre blend of beekeeping bluegrass and backwoods crime set against the backdrop of Oklahoma. Right from its killer opening sequence that shows a man getting his entire scalp ripped off by getting his ponytail caught in a honey extractor, this is a movie where just about every scene has a surprise.

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The only way I can describe the plot is as a genre-blending neo-Western crime thriller. Set deep in the backwoods of rural Oklahoma, the story follows a charismatic, born-again Christian beekeeper who also moonlights as a bluegrass musician named Amziah King (played by Matthew McConaughey). His life suddenly takes a turn when his estranged foster daughter, Kateri (played by Angelina LookingGlass), unexpectedly returns. Amziah takes her under his wing, teaching her the family business of beekeeping and making honey. That premise could lead to a typical sentimental father-daughter story, but the movie is more ambitious.

Over the next two hours, we will see these characters rob, steal, and even kill to protect their precious cargo of bees and the valuable honey the hives contain.

What gives this film heart is the familial relationship between father and daughter beekeepers. A different movie might have had the two characters constantly fighting or rehashing old business from the past. Rivals show Kateri and the King having a blast together collecting bees. There’s even a memorable sequence where the pair save a local school from a swarm of bees that has gathered on school grounds.

It would be easy for Matthew McConaughey’s exuberant character to dominate the film (he does in the first half). Still, without giving away too much, this is really his daughter Kateri’s story. Her character may look like a sweet, innocent teenager, but she will reveal herself to be far more ruthless than she first appears.

What also left a mark on me was the film’s unique Oklahoma setting. Visually, it feels like we’re in an authentic backwoods community. This world has a tactile quality that makes it feel like it’s unfolding in a specific time and place. When we watch these characters interact, we see beads of sweat form on their foreheads. We feel wrapped up by the fog and sweltering heat of a hot summer’s night. Building on the meticulous, atmospheric framing Patterson established in The Vast of Night, the film captures the deep, backwoods texture of rural Oklahoma.

The soundtrack is almost a character itself. Reflecting the film’s Oklahoma setting, the soundtrack leans heavily into rollicking Bluegrass music with acoustic instruments. Unlike other movies where the score is simply background music that punctuates a scene’s emotion, Bluegrass music is a literal plot device in The Rivals of Amziah King. Many of the characters bond, plot, and process grief through live bluegrass jams that make the movie a blast to listen to and watch.

I’ve never seen a musical crime story set in the world of Oklahoma beekeepers, and I’m not sure I will ever see another. That unique sense of story and character makes The Rivals of Amziah King one of 2026’s standouts. ★ ★★★