King Knight
Witchy flick gets its kicks off of self-actualization shtick.
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I’d never seen any of writer/director Richard Bates Jr.’s films prior to watching “King Knight” (available in select theaters and on VOD beginning Friday, Feb. 18), but he and his works’ reputations certainly preceded themselves. (Reading the Wikipedia summaries of “Excision” and “Trash Fire” led to the conclusion that neither movie is for me.) Going into “King Knight” I knew the horror-centric Bates was dealing with a coven so I figured there’d be some gore and grue to this witch’s brew, but alas it’s sweetness and sass that sorta makes this thing a gas.
Thorn (Matthew Gray Gubler) and Meadow (Angela Sarafyan) are life partners who serve as the high priest and priestess of a coven of new age witches. Thorn makes a meager living by selling poorly-received bird baths online. Their coven consists of other couplings as well – there’s the Juliette Binoche-obsessed Percival (Andy Milonakis) and Rowena (Kate Comer), brewery owner Angus (Nelson Franklin) and technical writer Echo (Emily Chang) and Desmond (Johnny Pemberton) and Neptune (Josh Fadem), gay lovers who frequently question each other’s gayness.
When an inconsequential series of secrets from Thorn’s past come to light, he’s banished from the coven despite Meadow’s protestations in his defense. Thorn goes on an accidentally drug-fueled quest for self-actualization en route to his 20th high school reunion and a reconciliation with his judgmental mother Ruth (genre queen Barbara Crampton). Thorn and Angus’ “favorite fucking wizard” Merlin (“Twin Peaks” alum Ray Wise) serves as his spirit guide.
Despite being ably braced by a talented supporting cast, “King Knight” is ultimately Gubler’s show and he’s more than up to the task. I’ve enjoyed Gubler’s work dating back to his turn as Intern #1 in “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” and his longstanding gig as Dr. Spencer Reid on the handful of “Criminal Minds” episodes I’ve seen. (I actually spotted Gubler at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on my way home from South by Southwest back in 2009. The dude is strikingly handsome and seems much taller than the 6’1” he’s listed at as he’s so damned thin.) Gubler imbues Thorn with a sensitivity that makes him wholly sympathetic – he’s also a natural deadpan and has a dance number that’s a real doozy.
“King Knight” feels slight at a mere 71 minutes, like a bunch of friends getting together to make a movie in each other’s back yards on weekends (most of these folks have worked with Bates before – this is Gubler’s fourth project with him) and like a cult film-in-the-making. It’s a tale of self-actualization, self-acceptance and unconditional love that makes room for an Aubrey Plaza-voiced pine cone and discussions of the poop stored in peoples’ (Binoche included) butts.