Message from the King (2016)

A mysterious outsider from South Africa, named Jacob King, arrives in Los Angeles to look for his missing younger sister.

Director:

Fabrice du Welz

Writers:

Oliver Butcher, Stephen Cornwell

Stars:

Chadwick Boseman, Luke Evans, Alfred Molina

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Chadwick Boseman	...	Jacob King
Luke Evans	...	Wentworth
Alfred Molina	...	Preston
Teresa Palmer	...	Kelly
Arthur Darbinyan	...	Duc
Lucan Melkonian	...	Zico
Diego Josef	...	Armand
James Jordan	...	Scott
Roman Mitichyan	...	Vrioni
Ava Kolker	...	Boot
Drew Powell	...	Merrick
Jonno Roberts	...	Rice
Max Daniels	...	Piotr
Natalie Martinez	...	Trish
Chris Mulkey	...	Leary

Storyline

After suddenly losing all contact with his younger sister, Jacob King arrives in Los Angeles determined to track her down. Trying to piece together her last known movements, King finds unsettling evidence of a life gone off the rails - drugs, sex and secrets in the sleazy underbelly of the City of Angels. Undeterred by warnings to go home, King proves to be more than a match for the violence he is confronted with as he relentlessly pursues the truth about what happened to his sister.

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Plot Keywords:

drugs | violence | motel room | prison | revenge | 

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Genres:

Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for brutal violence, grisly images, strong sexual content/nudity, language throughout and some drug use

Details

Country:

UK France Belgium USA

Language:

English Armenian

Release Date:

4 August 2017 (USA)

Also Known As:

King: Uma História de Vingança

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Backup Media, Canal+, Ciné+

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In addition to the video game "Payday 2" being explicitly featured in this movie, the game and the movie share some themes beyond organized crime and gratuitous violence, such as an important character who is a dentist but not only such.

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Goofs

[All goofs for this title are spoilers.]

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Quotes

[first lines]
Woman: [on voice message, crying] Jacob, it's Bianca. I'm in trouble. I need your help, please. I have something they want. Jacob, I don't know what to do. Please, call me.

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Connections

Features Payday 2 (2013)

User Reviews

Solid revenge thriller

The story is nothing really special. Guy comes to LA to look for his sister and he gets tangled in the mess that she was in. He uses his tough South African skills to punish people. Liam Neeson did it with great success, Chadwick Boseman does it too.

It was the acting that was pretty decent, though, as well as the portrait of the city as a corrupt place that feeds on hope and takes it all away. The "message from the king" is that you may have a lot of money and live in a big rich place and still be just as rotten as the most crime ridden places in Africa.

Bottom line: a linear and predictable story that only highlighted the good acting and subtle message on the background.