King Ivory
King Ivory is a 2024 American action thriller film written and directed by John Swab. The film stars James Badge Dale, Ben Foster, Michael Mando, Graham Greene, and Melissa Leo.
The film premiered at the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in September 2, 2024, and was released on November 14, 2025.
Production
The film was shot in the Tulsa area during the summer of 2023. The production was made on a budget of under $7.5 million. Swab described the film as 'by far the most personal movie' he made.Release
The film premiered at the 81st Venice International Film Festival, in the "Orizzonti Extra" sidebar. In March 2025, Saban Films and Roadside Attractions acquired North American distribution, while Universal Pictures handled other territories. It was theatrically released on 752 screens in the United States on November 14, 2025.Reception
The Hollywood Reporters 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". Rodrigo Perez from The Playlist paired it to Steven Soderbergh's Traffic, and described the film as 'intense and engaging' and 'a terrific surprise'.Screen Internationals 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'.