Sports Mindset and The Rivals of Amziah King
Review by In the Frame participant George Samios
In the Frame is a program that fosters inquiry, reflection, and an appetite for cinema. As part of our In the Frame program, up to four emerging film critics had the opportunity to watch, reflect on and review films in the Perth Festival Lotterywest Films 2025 – 26 season.
I first saw The Rivals of Amziah King at the Melbourne International Film Festival in IMAX. At a packed house in front of one of the largest screens in the world, you’d be hard pressed to find a larger gathering of cinephiles in the country. Writer and director Andrew Patterson was present to introduce the film, and after a few quips about the sheer size of the cinema auditorium, he
spent all of two minutes talking about how much he appreciates Australia because of the successful basketball players the country has provided the NBA.
While it’s an unconventional way to preface a film with nothing to do with basketball, it’s a fascinating look into the filmmaker’s mindset. What does it mean to think of film in the context of a sport like basketball?
To be present in a cinema with hooping on the brain? Ever since cultural provocateur Timothee Chalamet infamously declared his desire to be “the Michael Jordan of
actors”, an athlete’s mentality feels increasingly applicable to artists. At the time of writing, there is currently a film in theatres based entirely on a sports acronym. You can place bets on the Academy Awards as if it’s the Super Bowl. And while Amziah King doesn’t mention hooping it does feature a scene where the eponymous Amziah receives a drizzle of honey pouring, echoing an aphorism commonly associated with NBA star LeBron James.
In reality I’m sure Patterson’s comments were simply unplanned rambling, likely a product of a big night at the awards ceremony the previous evening. But these unserious examples show his words have surprising relevance. They even go beyond basketball, applicable to a mindset inclusive of all sports. I would like to think that he is one of many filmmakers entering the space with a sports mindset.
The Rivals of Amziah King follows Angelina LookingGlass’s Kateri as she is reintroduced into the world of her former foster parent, beekeeper and local celebrity Amziah King. Matthew McConaughey stars in the titular role, somehow even more suited to his sensibilities than his formative turn in Dazed and Confused. Kateri is bestowed the keys to Amziah’s kingdom, a humble honey farm, and must fight to keep it amongst the insatiable greed of Big Honey. To translate that to basketball terms, if McCounaghhey is the point guard of the film, then LookingGlass’s Kateri is the small forward, setting out with the ball on an odyssey filled with larger-than-life characters, capers and heists. Much like your average NBA game, I’m told.
There is no greater exemplar for the sports mindset than McConaughey himself, even predating young Chalamet. Any readers of his seminal autobiography/self-help book/poetry collection Greenlights know he’s an avid spokesman of the humble sports metaphor. He plays the field of acting as if he’s a champion athlete, embarking on spiritual and physical adventures to hone his ability like it's a muscle. And for all his, uh, eccentricities on and off screen, when he works, he really works. He’s Amziah King’s quarterback, striker, mascot and Olympic flag bearer. It’s hard to imagine this film without him, and if Amziah had any more screentime you’d think McConaughey wrote and directed it himself.
While the film is not without its flaws, it wears its heart on its sleeve. It’s flamboyant, rambunctious and that right amount of goofy. Evocative of the narrative structure of early Coen Brothers with the editing style of late Baz Luhrmann, it’s a Frankenstein’s monster of a genre mash that is so crazy it just can’t help but work. Patterson said he wanted the film to “feel like a bold swing”, and even if you don’t think it was a home run he’s certainly swinging for a triple (baseball). Did I also mention it’s about one banjo number away from being a full-blown musical?
In many ways it's more comparable to streetball than basketball. It’s a show of flair, an announcement to the industry that yes, Patterson can go from a small-scale first feature to a maximalist romp for his second. In a culture that dawdles from ironic to post-ironic, it’s rare to see something that doesn’t take itself seriously without compromising its artistry. It really is an old-fashioned film in every sense of the word. Musical numbers in a film can be off-putting to modern audiences if not given forewarning, so it’s a genuine punk move to kick off this film with a spirited ditty at a fast food joint. There is a handmade quality to everything in this film, from the textural feel of the grimey locations, the grainy cinematography and the sweaty foreheads in the Oklahoma heat. It all harkens back to when American films still looked and felt like they were brought to life by a group of real artists. Filmmaking is a team sport after all, and a director’s best players are the crew.
In Amziah King, characters play into stereotypes of rockabilly hicks while working against them. After being introduced to a cavalcade of supporting bit players, the film slowly becomes empathetic towards them. Characters introduced as gags through slapstick accidents, menial jobs and unintelligible speaking become intrinsic parts of the film’s lifeblood. An especially tender scene from Owen Teague’s character about trying to find life outside of prison initially feels out of place but results in something quietly moving. These are people reflective of the community that Patterson grew up in; children in and out of foster care, the formerly incarcerated, and like Amziah himself, those whose purpose is to help them and treat them with dignity and love.
It’s that love of community that Patterson imbues in this film. We all aspire to better understand people, support them, and share the joy of food and music together, even if we never act on those aspirations. At times the heavily idealised version of the United States the film lives in feels almost too heightened; it yearns for this otherworldly, happy-clappy American monoculture that similarly perseveres in sports culture. However it is refreshing to watch something that feels so hopeful in a deeply cynical world, and it’s hard to switch off that part of my brain and just embrace the joy this film wishes to be in. Greenlights readers will know all too well it’s the very same genre of mind palace McConaughey has been writing poetry in his entire life.
It’s interesting to think about whether the sports mindset is just as applicable to cinema audiences as to filmmakers. In the worst cases sport fans can be toxic and combative, but in the best cases (and I’ll be sticking to the best cases) they are defined by their commitment to their community, bound together by the love of the game. Their joy comes from being part of something larger, regardless of the result of any given match. It’s a lot harder with cinema fans, especially given they’re connected by something inherently subjective. But I still believe there’s room to build a more inclusive sense of community. Go to any small bar post-film festival and you’re likely to taste an air of arrogance and intellectualism. Go to a pub after a footy match and it’s an aura of passion that’s all laughs and smiles. Maybe the cinephiles can learn something there. I know I certainly should.
I don’t want to paint Amziah King as some impeccable cinematic equalizer destined to unite audiences in a New McConaissance. It's simpler than that. It’s an ode to the films Patterson grew up loving – hell, probably most of us grew up loving. While I’ll risk sounding too much like a Victorville movie-buff, this film really is a tribute to old Hollywood, warts and all. But old Hollywood isn’t postwar glamour anymore. Old Hollywood is now the 1990s. Old Hollywood is DVD sales. Where once the humble mid-budget drama that sustained the lifeblood of the English-speaking theatrical industry now lives in a virtual bargain bin on Paramount+. The playing field has changed, the rules have changed, but Patterson has fallen back in love with the same game he grew up playing.
The Rivals of Amziah King is a rare example of an arthouse film (and an American one at that) that doesn’t try to push the envelope nor subvert its audience. This film is purely in it for the love of the game. A game where movies are made with love, by people who care about the craft for audiences that want to have fun. And I guess that’s what a sports mindset is all about.