King Ivory

King Ivory is a 2024 American action thriller film written and directed by John Swab. The film premiered at the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival.

King Ivory
German theatrical release poster
Directed by	John Swab
Written by	John Swab
Produced by	Jeremy M. Rosen
Starring	James Badge Dale Ben Foster Michael Mando Graham Greene Melissa Leo
Cinematography	Will Stone
Edited by	Andrew Aaronson
Production company	Roxwell Films
Distributed by	Saban Films Roadside Attractions (United States and Canada) Universal Pictures[1] (International)
Release date	September 2, 2024 (2024-09-02) (Venice)
Running time	129 minutes[2]
Country	United States
Language	English

Plot

Cast

• James Badge Dale as Layne West
• Ben Foster as George 'Smiley' Greene
• Michael Mando as Ramón Garza
• Rory Cochrane as Beatty
• Ritchie Coster as Mickey Greene
• George Carroll as Ty Grady
• Graham Greene as Holt Lightfeather
• Melissa Leo as Ginger Greene
• Jasper Jones as Jack West
• Nikki Dixon as Frosty
• Sam Quartin as Tess West
• Ben Hall as Cap
• David Barcena as Lago
• Danny Boy O'Connor as Burl Cain
• Isabella Sanchez as Ruby
• Clarissa Cozzoni as Tori
• Orlando Valentino as Nix

Production

The film was shot in the Tulsa area during the summer of 2023.^[3] The production was made on a budget of under $7.5 million.^[4] Swab described the film as 'by far the most personal movie' he made.^[4]

Release

The film premiered at the 81st Venice International Film Festival, in the "Orizzonti Extra" sidebar.^[4] In March 2025, it was reported that the film would get a theatrical release in the United States later in the year, by Saban Films and Roadside Attractions.^[1]

Reception

The Hollywood Reporter's film critic Jordan Mintzer praised the film, describing it as "effective", "hard-nosed" and "above your average drug thriller", and noted "its uncompromisingly bleak view of fentanyl's damaging hold on the U.S. is not necessarily a crowd-pleaser, but it well deserves a look".^[2] Rodrigo Perez from The Playlist paired it to Steven Soderbergh's Traffic, and described the film as 'intense and engaging' and 'a terrific surprise'.^[5]

Screen International's Tim Grierson criticized the film, noting that while 'Swab creates a sense of constant propulsion [... ] and certainly the testosterone-fueled shootouts are muscular in their execution', 'the high-octane King Ivory is intense without being insightful' and it 'rarely surprises'.^[6]