Message from the King (film)
| Message from the King | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Fabrice Du Welz |
| Produced by |
|
| Screenplay by |
|
| Starring | |
| Music by |
|
| Cinematography | Monica Lenczewska |
| Edited by | Beatrice Sisul |
Production companies |
|
| Distributed by | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 102 minutes |
| Country |
|
| Language | English |
| Budget | $10 million[1] |
Message from the King is a 2016 revenge-action-thriller film directed by Fabrice Du Welz and written by Stephen Cornwell and Oliver Butcher. It stars Chadwick Boseman, Luke Evans, Teresa Palmer, and Alfred Molina. The film's plot revolves around a man from South Africa who travels to Los Angeles in order to avenge his younger sister's death.
The film premiered at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2016.[2] Netflix released the film on August 4, 2017.[3]
Synopsis
Jacob King travels from South Africa to Los Angeles to search for his estranged sister Bianca. Upon arrival he is questioned by US Customs and Border Protection agents about the purpose of his visit as they are concerned he will remain in the country and work illegally. King assures them he is on holidays and will be returning to South Africa in 5 days time. He checks himself into a motel and goes over to the last address he had for her where he is informed by Trish, her neighbour, that she moved out a few months ago after getting into some trouble. King admits to having a falling out with her which prompted her to leave South Africa though they still kept in contact up until a month ago. Not knowing where Bianca went Trish gives him a bag of Bianca's belongings and says that maybe her landlord knows where Bianca went. Trish also invites King to a party saying there are a few people who knew Bianca that are going to be there. King goes to the landlord's house who described Bianca as a party girl who was forced to take custody of her husband Alex's son, Armand, after Alex walked out on them. The landlord also says that Bianca fell behind on her bills and that a guy who runs a nearby car wash came and helped her move out. The car wash in question is run by gangsters who claim to have never met Bianca.
King goes through the bag of Bianca's belongings and finds an encrypted memory card, an appointment card with an orthodontist and a shopping bag from a local market. He goes to the market and is told to go to check the morgue. There he finds her body, badly beaten and tortured. King returns to the car wash and assaults three men. He drags one of the men into a storeroom and pours bleach all over his face. The man admits that Bianca was part of a network of drug dealers and prostitutes, and that their boss Duke was hired to kill her. King leaves the man alive to deliver the message to Duke that King would be coming for him. He then goes to Trish's party to get answers and when he arrives he discovers Trish doing drugs. She admits her and Bianca hosted frequent parties for their dealer Frankie so he could sell drugs. King confronts Frankie outside. Frankie claims he had nothing to do with Bianca's death so King robs him of his cash and drugs. Later that evening while eating at diner King is approached by Kelly, a single mom from New Mexico who is living in the same motel that King is staying in. She thanks him for not being judgemental about her situation like some of the other guests are.
The next morning King leaves Bianca's bag with Kelly and borrows Kelly's car to go investigate the appointment Bianca had with Dr Wentworth. Upon arriving King sees the same gangster he assaulted yesterday leaving the office with fresh stitches. Wentworth admits that he met Bianca at a party and did some work on her teeth for free. He knew of her wild lifestyle and claims she got mixed up with the wrong crowd. King claims to have something that belonged to Bianca that Wentworth wants. Wentworth fakes ignorance and leaves. Kings follows him to the office of a local politician. Wentworth obtains the number of two men who could make King disappear. From there Wentworth heads over the home of an associate named Preston and says that King is in possession of what they want. It is discovered that Preston had the problem with Bianca so he went to Wentworth for help who in turn hired Duke's men to kill Bianca. Wentworth claims it is going to cost $750, 000 to make this problem with King go away. Meanwhile King has snuck onto the property but turns back when he discovers Armand is living there.
On his way driving back to the motel King is pulled over by two policeman and detained in the back of their car. They turn out to be corrupt police and are the two hitmen Wentworth hired. The hitmen badly beat King in a dark alleyway though he manages to escape. The two corrupt policemen call Wentworth and claim King is dead. Kelly finds King laying in the parking lot of the motel, badly beaten, and brings him back to her room where she treats his wounds. King spends the next day in bed suffering from hallucinations of himself and Bianca as children. Meanwhile Wentworth tells Duke that King is dead. That night King tells Kelly the story of why Bianca left - they had a younger brother named Issac who was considered the good child. Issac ended up going to prison where he got mixed up with a gang and upon being released was killed in a turf war. Bianca blamed King for not doing enough to save Issac. The next morning King goes back to the market and asks for help in accessing the memory card. The memory card is encrypted, but the son of the store owner manages to decode enough of the video to see its a sex tape of Bianca, Armand and Preston. King buys some material to make a pipe bomb, and constructs the bomb back at Kelly's apartment.
Later that evening King secretly takes the bomb to Preston's house and confronts him. Preston claims Alex owed someone a lot of money and disappeared, likely after being murdered. After Alex's disappearance, Bianca was forced to pay off that debt. Instead she sold Armand to Preston. When she had second thoughts she attempted to blackmail Preston with the memory card which contained a sex tape he made with Armand. Not wanting to pay her off, Preston went to Wentworth for help which resulted in Bianca's torture and murder. King calls both Wentworth and Duke to the home. Before they arrive he takes half the money from Preston's safe. He places the remaining money in the bag with the pipebomb hidden underneath, and leaves the bag in the safe for Wentworth or Duke. King then shoots Preston in the head.
When Wentworth arrives, King tries to leave with Armand who does not want to go with him. Wentworth attempts to take the rest of the money for himself but is stopped by Duke. Sitting in Duke's car, they open the bag of money to discover the pipe bomb hidden inside, which explodes killing both of them instantly.
King and Armand flee to the motel where one of Duke's men is waiting. King is saved by Kelly and in the chaos Armand flees. King attempts to catch him but is unable to. The next morning King puts Kelly and her daughter on a bus back to New Mexico, and gives them the money he stole so they can start a new life. King then boards his plane back to South Africa. Back in South Africa, King is greeted by a group of his police friends, who refer to him as 'Detective King', implied that he is a cop. Driving in the police car, they ask him how his sister is, and he lies that she is doing great.
Cast
- Chadwick Boseman as Jacob King
- Luke Evans as Wentworth
- Teresa Palmer as Kelly
- Alfred Molina as Preston
- Natalie Martinez as Trish
- Tom Felton as Frankie
- Dale Dickey as Mrs. Lazlo
- Jake Weary as Bill
- Drew Powell as Merrick
- Chris Mulkey as Leary
- Tom Wright as Waylon
- Sibongile Mlambo as Bianca King
- Anna Diop as Becca
- Ava Kolker as Boot
- Roman Mitichyan as Vrioni
- Lucan Melkonian as Zico
- James Jordan as Scott
- Arthur Darbinyan as Duke
- Diego Josef as Armand
- Jonno Roberts as Rice
- Wade Williams as Keegan
Production
In November 2014, Chadwick Boseman joined the cast as Jacob King.[4] In March 2015, it was announced that Natalie Martinez joined as Trish, the former neighbor of Bianca.[5]
The film was shot in Glendale, California.[6]
Release
Message from the King premiered on September 8, 2016 at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival. Netflix released the film on August 4, 2017.
References
- ↑ McCown-Levy, Alex (February 13, 2015). "Luke Evans, others join Chadwick Boseman’s revenge thriller Message From The King". The A.V. Club. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
- ↑ "Message from the King". Toronto International Film Festival. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
- ↑ "Message from the King | Netflix". www.netflix.com. Retrieved 2017-07-27.
- ↑ Kroll, Justin (November 4, 2014). "Chadwick Boseman to Star in Thriller ‘Message From the King’". Variety. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
- ↑ Patten, Dominic (March 16, 2015). "Natalie Martinez Helps Track A Killer In ‘Message From The King’". Deadline. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
- ↑ Davison, Rebecca (March 11, 2015). "Luke Evans cuts a brooding figure as he smokes a cigarette during a break from filming new movie Message From The King". Daily Mail. Retrieved August 29, 2016.