Night of the Kings

Name: Night of the Kings
Genre: Drama, Fantasy
Released: February 26, 2021
Duration: 93 min
Rating: 82
Cast: Abdoul Karim Konaté, Bakary Koné, Denis Lavant, Isaka Sawadogo, Jean Cyrille Digbeu

2021

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 23 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 14 Ratings

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4.9

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4.9	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 14 Ratings

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Night Of The Kings (US Trailer 1)

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Movie Details & Credits

Neon | Release Date (Streaming): February 26, 2021 | R

Starring: Abdoul Karim Konaté, Bakary Koné, Denis Lavant, Isaka Sawadogo, Jean Cyrille Digbeu, Laetitia Ky, Macel Anzian, Rasmane Ouedraogo, Steve Tientcheu, Zunon François Lopez

Summary: A young man is sent to “La Maca,” a prison in the middle of the Ivorian forest ruled by its inmates. As tradition goes with the rising of the red moon, he is designated by the Boss to be the new “Roman” and must tell a story to the other prisoners. Learning what fate awaits him, he begins to narrate the mystical life of the legendary outlawA young man is sent to “La Maca,” a prison in the middle of the Ivorian forest ruled by its inmates. As tradition goes with the rising of the red moon, he is designated by the Boss to be the new “Roman” and must tell a story to the other prisoners. Learning what fate awaits him, he begins to narrate the mystical life of the legendary outlaw named “Zama King” and has no choice but to make his story last until dawn.… Expand

Director: Philippe Lacôte

Genre(s): Drama, Fantasy

Rating: R

Runtime: 93 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Katie Walsh

Feb 24, 2021

What happens in Night of the Kings is a piece of traditional oration and impermanent art, significantly marked by both its temporal and improvisational qualities. It’s both a power struggle and a ritual practiced by the collective within a microcosm of society housed under the oppression of the state, and a powerful demonstration of the transporting, and liberating, power of narrative. Read full review

Polygon Karen Han

Sep 24, 2020

Night of the Kings occasionally strays too far into fantasy (and CGI), even though the more grounded scenes are what truly make the film sing. Still, it’s a stunning work. Lacôte’s tribute to the power of stories is a powerful story in and of itself, celebrating oral traditions and the rituals we create for ourselves in order to make life just a little more bearable. Read full review

Boyd van Hoeij

Sep 16, 2020

This captivating hybrid of a movie mixes fairy-tale and storytelling elements with a vividly drawn backdrop of heightened realism — no one would mistake this prison for a luxury resort — and relies on images and sounds as much as the human voice to tell its multiple stories. Read full review

Lee Marshall

Sep 16, 2020

This is an atmospherically shot film about African oral culture, about riots, street musicians and storytellers. But it also uses the space and denizens of the prison as a metaphor for the divisions and tensions within Ivorian society. Read full review

Screen Rant Mae Abdulbaki

Mar 12, 2021

Despite a weaker final act, Night of the Kings is spectacular, enthralling, and gripping. It's nearly poetic in its execution and that alone makes it well worth the watch. Read full review

Bradley Gibson

Feb 9, 2021

Lacôte’s second directorial feature, Night of the Kings, is an epically ambitious undertaking, roaring along on several parallel tracks, with a dizzying number of sub-stories to track. The world inside MACA prison is a complex, layered cultural and political system. Read full review

Nicolas Rapold

Dec 30, 2020

Lacôte crosses the open-ended energy of griot traditions with the surging tensions of the prison’s close quarters. Read full review

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User Reviews

DawdlingPoet

May 22, 2022

This is an intriguing story and it may make you think about the tribal cultures of people from the area. I thought it was fairly engrossing, seeing what happened, even if the chronology is jumped about a bit. Of course it is fairly grim, given the setting (in a prison) and everything. IThis is an intriguing story and it may make you think about the tribal cultures of people from the area. I thought it was fairly engrossing, seeing what happened, even if the chronology is jumped about a bit. Of course it is fairly grim, given the setting (in a prison) and everything. I liked the almost communal singing and the scenes depicting locals in their tribal costumes and the like. This is a film with a definite sense of threat looming throughout but that kept me watching, even though it isn't exactly the cheeriest watch, certainly. I thought its a good bit of world cinema, yes.… Expand

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Brent_Marchant

Mar 8, 2021

Stylish though it may be, this drama/fantasy about a storytelling ritual carried out in a remote prison ruled by inmates in the Ivory Coast wilderness definitely, definitely, definitely loses something in translation. Director Philippe Lacote's third narrative feature is difficult to follow,Stylish though it may be, this drama/fantasy about a storytelling ritual carried out in a remote prison ruled by inmates in the Ivory Coast wilderness definitely, definitely, definitely loses something in translation. Director Philippe Lacote's third narrative feature is difficult to follow, largely because much of the material goes unexplained, save for superficial descriptions of the events on screen but with virtually no back story. What's more, it seems assumed that viewers somehow naturally possess an intimate knowledge of African mythology and the political history of the Ivory Coast going in, a rather sizable (and unfounded) presumption on the filmmaker's part, to be sure. The convoluted mixture of drama and fantasy, along with sketchy details about the ritual and the workings of internal prison politics, frequently leaves viewers scratching their heads, wondering about what is really going on. Add to that a host of seemingly impromptu, perfectly choreographed outbursts of song, dance and acrobatics from those listening to the storyteller -- most of which resemble bad experimental theater -- and you've got a confusing tale that ultimately seems indifferently pointless (especially since the narrative of the story being told isn't particularly interesting in the first place). What this production clearly shows is that there's a big difference between creativity and coherent creativity, and, sadly, "Night of the Kings" does not reflect the latter.… Expand

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