OKLAHOMA CITY – After an unprecedented blockbuster summer of superheroes, scares, and the scandalous scars of war, the multiplexes are finally beginning to thin out and the fans of more heady, artier fare are salivating for the outset of Art-House Autumn.
That’s right, it’s that strange, category-defying period between the summer crowd-pleasers and the Halloween horrors when the art house theaters and micro cinemas reign supreme with small-run indies, foreign gems, and under-represented modern classics.
And OKC’s best indie screens are wasting no time this year, kicking off September with a host of screenings examining toxic power structures, family complexities, and the thin lines between enduring legacy and generational trauma.
Starting with a newly filmed stage version of the English language’s greatest tale of power, family, and trauma…
National Theatre Live presents: ‘Hamlet’ – Oklahoma City Museum of Art – September 3rd through September 5th
There may be no other story that so powerfully confronts the infinite nuances of family trauma, power dynamics, and the debilitating fears that are often driving them all.
Shakespeare’s immortal tale of a murdered king, a usurping uncle, and a doubt-wracked, guilt-ridden prince trapped in a violent cycle of vengeance has been told and re-told endlessly for literally hundreds of years.
But new performers are still finding new ways to approach and dissect the undying text.
Robert Hastie – award-winning stage director and deputy Artistic Director for London’s National Theatre – presents this intriguingly modern-set take on the classic play starring Olivier-winner Hiran Abeysekera, who brings a wild-eyed, manic energy to the title role, and maybe even a little humor.
Abeysekera’s Hamlet can see the ridiculousness of the melodrama around him and the unhinged emotion flowing through him, but he can’t save himself from being pulled in by its force or from being dragged down into the violence and depression that’s waiting for him.
It’s been one of the most talked-about and electric adaptations of Shakespeare’s greatest play in recent years, presented here on the big screen as only OKCMOA can offer.
For times, tickets, and more, visit okcmoa.com.
‘Inland Empire’ – Oklahoma Film Exchange – September 6th
When the world lost surrealist filmmaking master David Lynch early last year, the tributes were swift and effusive, even right here in this column. But while it was easy to heap praise on his iconoclastic classics like “Mulholland Dr.,” “Eraserhead,” “Blue Velvet,” and “Twin Peaks,” fewer mourners mentioned what may well be Lynch’s real cinematic masterpiece.
Lynch’s 2006 epic “Inland Empire” brought together the full breadth of his career and the fully, unfettered outpouring of his nightmarish creativity in a single, mammoth piece of cerebral cinema so transcendent and encompassing that the master never actually produced another theatrical film again.
Filmed entirely with grainy, gritty, handheld digital cameras, “Inland Empire” carries a sense of unease and discomfort that few other films can match, but even once the oddity of the digital video wears off, you’re left with the much deeper sinking unease of Lynch’s twisting, dreamlike, surrealist odyssey of Los Angeles.
Starring the incomparable Laura Dern in what could be one of the 21st century’s most fearless and impressive performances, the story (if you can call it that) follows Nikki, a Hollywood actress pursuing a role in a film that may or may not be cursed. But as she navigates the shady systems and fraught legacies of the filmmakers and the strange, deadly production that they’re remaking, all lines of understanding and reality blur and fall away.
From there, it’s Lynch’s “Ulysses,” deconstructing the sentiments and iconographies of LA as astutely and impressionistically as Joyce’s Dublin, following Nikki through multiple identities, roles, and dramas as seamlessly as the shifts between dreams, unpacking the generational traumas of the city itself.
And also there’s a family of human-sized rabbit people and a phantom that’s haunting everything from a building that may be outside of time.
It’s not easily explained, but it’s undoubtedly felt. It’s Lynch’s most concise and concentrated expression of Los Angeles and of the power struggles, dark legacies, and uniquely surreal fears and paranoias of Hollywood.
If you’re a Lynch fan and you haven’t had the chance to experience this one in a crowded, confused theater, you should fix that.
For times, tickets, and more, visit oklahomafilmexchange.com.
‘The Rivals of Amziah King’ – Oklahoma City Museum of Art – September 5th through September 6th
Oklahoman writer/director Andrew Patterson offers this unpredictable, genre-twisting look at unexpected family bonds and unexpected structures of power, influence, and honey.
The wholly singular Matthew McConaughey stars as Amiziah King, a beekeeper, honey producer, and barn-burning bluegrass band leader in rural Oklahoma (though the film was admittedly primarily shot in Alabama, but with Okie roots firmly in place.)
King navigates the surprisingly treacherous world of honey-making – from stolen truckloads to ruthless business kingpins – but finds himself blindsided by the sudden return of his estranged foster dadughter, Kateri.
Taking Kateri under his wing in the honeybee game, King introduces her to the joys of small-town life and community.
But when an unthinkable tragedy strikes, the stakes quickly change, with King’s entire operation on the line and Kateri’s resolve and loyalties to the only family she’s ever known tested beyond measure.
The cast is stacked, with Cole Sprouse, recent “Spider-Man” co-star Tony Revolori, and the legend himself, Mr. Kurt Russell, but the real selling point for OKC audiences might be the score, performed by a selection of Oklahoman players with OKC’s own Steven Stark on cello.
For times, tickets, and more, visit okcmoa.com.
Catch Brett Fieldcamp’s film column weekly for information and insights into the world of film in the Oklahoma City metro and Oklahoma. | Brought to you by the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.
Brett Fieldcamp is the owner and Editor in Chief of Oklahoma City Free Press. He has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for nearly two decades and served as Arts & Entertainment Editor before purchasing the company from founder Brett Dickerson in 2026.
He is also a musician and songwriter and holds a certification as Specialist of Spirits from The Society of Wine Educators.
