Roadside Attractions and Saban Films will release King Ivory in theaters tomorrow, November 14. The latest film from award-winning filmmaker John Swab (One Day as a Lion, Little Dixie) delivers a gritty, unflinching look at the deadly realities of fentanyl trafficking in the United States.
Based on extensive research with law enforcement, gangs, inmates, migrants and addicts, King Ivory positions itself as an exposé of the fentanyl epidemic and its far-reaching consequences. Swab, who both wrote and directed the film, presents a world where the drug trade touches all corners of society — from civilians to criminals to law enforcement — and no one remains untouched.
Set in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the story follows narcotics officer Layne West (James Badge Dale), whose job takes on new urgency when his own son, Jack (Jasper Jones), becomes addicted to fentanyl. Working alongside his partner Ty (George Carroll) and FBI agent Beatty (Rory Cochrane), West attempts to track down those responsible for fuelling the epidemic.
The film features a wide-reaching network of traffickers, from Ramón Garza (Michael Mando), a local figure for the Mexican cartel, to Holt Lightfeather (Graham Greene), the Indian Brotherhood War Chief, who continues to oversee trafficking operations from inside the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, known as “Big Mac”. Also involved is the local Irish Mob, led by George “Smiley” Greene (Ben Foster), his mother Ginger (Melissa Leo), and uncle Mickey (Ritchie Coster). During a visit to the prison, Lightfeather offers West a warning that underlines the film’s central message: “The cartels want your kids, the next generation, who want what is new, and fentanyl is new.”
King Ivory premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where it was awarded the 2024 Smithers Foundation Award.
To mark the film’s release, CinemaChords sat down with James Badge Dale, Michael Mando, and Ben Foster to discuss how the film explores how no one remains untouched by the problem in the film, how the film tackles holding empathy for everyone caught in this crisis, including those doing harm, and how they each found that sliver of emotional truth that keeps their characters human, even at their worst…
