KING KNGHT
Directed by: Richard Bates Jr
Starring: Matthew Gray Gubler, Angela Sarafyan, Andy Milonakis, Kate Comer, Josh Fadem, Johnny Pemberton, Nelson Franklin, Emily Chan, Swati Kapila, Barbara Crampton
Thorn is a male witch and leader of a small coven of New Age witches with his life-partner, Willow. However, a dark secret from his past is about to disrupt everything in his life…
Matthew Gray Gubler (Agent Spencer Reid on Criminal Minds) stars as Thorn, self-styled witch who has found true happiness in his life, with his life-partner Willow (Angela Sarafyan, recently seen in Run and Gun), and his struggling online bird bath business. He leads a small coven of other witches (three couples), and everything is serene…until he starts getting email's from someone called Alexandria.
At first we do not know who this Alexandria is or what she wants with Thorn, however he becomes very agitated when he sees her emails and deletes them without even reading them. Its not until Willow stumbles across a whole slew of them in his inbox that we discover what is up.
King Knight is a lighthearted film, with a playful visual style, such as the way it introduces the viewer to the various coven members. However while there is some light poking fun (the jumping through the fire sequence), the film for the most part respects the coven's beliefs and rituals. One of the film's strengths is its ability to look at societal norms and turn them on their head, presenting the same values and prejudices but through a mirror. When Thorn confesses his past to his coven it highlights exactly what his own assumptions are about the type of person involved in pagan magic as a lifestyle choice.
The film contains two outstanding moments. The first is when Thorn and Willow make a video call to Thorn's mother, played by Barbara Crampton in a wonderfully caustic cameo. Her speech/tirade perfectly sums up why Thorn had never mentioned her to Willow before, and also drives home that King Knight can act as a metaphor for any person belonging to a minority group, whether religious, sexual or gender based.
The second, lengthier standout sequence is when Thorn goes on a "Walkabout" to try and work through his situation and find a way back. Little does he know that the gourd he drank from contained some mind-altering substance and he finds himself on a trip which involves screaming at campers, having a conversation with a pinecone and a rock (shades of Everything Everywhere at Once, there, and great voice-acting) and an animated sequence inside a restroom stall. It’s a lot of fun.
King Knight has been classified on IMDB as a horror comedy, chiefly I imagine due to it being about (modern day) witches. I would say that this is even less of a horror film than The Love Witch, another film dealing with pagan magic in a modern setting. Other than the animated sequence, and the appearance of a third eye, there are no special fx needed in this film, except some very deft lighting (the red/green effect on Barbara Crampton's face as she screams conflicting insults is excellent).
THE VERDICT:
If you've seen any of Richard Bates Jr's previous films you will know what to expect, and this film delivers - dry humour, wry dialogue and solid performances, and an over-bearing mother figure. King Knight is a lot of fun and definitely worth checking out.
8 out of 10 RECOMMENDED
MikeOutWest