The King

Play trailer

2:26

The King

R

2018

1h 47m

Documentary

Music

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

77%

Tomatometer

95 Reviews

54%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

Filmmaker Eugene Jarecki takes a musical road trip across the U.S. in Elvis Presley's 1963 Rolls-Royce during the 2016 presidential election, comparing Elvis's transition from country boy to "The King" to America's transformation into an empire.

Watch on Fandango

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

The King pursues a wildly ambitious thesis through some fairly bumpy territory, but emerges as a provocative and insightful look at modern America.

Read Critics Reviews

Peter Rainer

FilmWeek (LAist)

Dec 14, 2019

Way too ambitious for its own good.

Go to Full Review

Claudia Puig

FilmWeek (LAist)

Dec 14, 2019

I liked this film. This is kind of a rare documentary ride along.

Go to Full Review

Tara Brady

Irish Times

Sep 6, 2018

3/5

It's all rather random, but never dull.

Go to Full Review

David Lamble

Bay Area Reporter

Jun 2, 2020

The King is a vastly entertaining and at times uncomfortably intimate account of a life whose rise and tragic fall Jarecki asserts is a metaphor for a parallel demise of the American Empire.

Go to Full Review

Charlotte Harrison

VultureHound

Jan 28, 2020

4/5

A lament for something that everyone thought they knew but never actually existed, not as we wanted it to be anyway.

Go to Full Review

Chris McCoy

Memphis Flyer

Jan 17, 2020

The King is required viewing for not just Elvis fans and Memphians, but anyone who strives to understand the state of our sprawling democratic experiment.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Stephen C

@bob25009 Aug 9, 2025

Real footage in 1 hour and 47 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

See more

lise l

@RT92290403 Jul 29, 2020

Really powerful and critical look at USA and the American dream using Elvis Presley as a lens and a soundtrack.

See more

david f

@dfulmer Feb 27, 2019

A nice road trip movie about Elvis and Americana.

See more

Jan 5, 2019

Big Bag of garBAGE..... mY MOM GOT THIS CAUSE THE THOUGHT IT WAS ONLY ABOUT ELVIS. ITS LIKE 10% ELVIS THR REST IS GARBAGE ABOUT TRASHING TRUMP AND SAYING AMERICA SUCKS. aLSO IT HAS PEOPLE CURSING AND RAPPING WITH THE F WORD AND N WORDS. BUNCH OF GARBAGE.

See more

Dec 12, 2018

I don't see how you can't like this film. Even the appearances of celebs who I previously disliked, I got something out of what they had to say. Even Dan Rather, who I feared would ruin the middle of the movie. Lots of fresh non-Elvis music, too. I'll watch it again. I think the premise of the movie is valid, but it is not a dogmatic presentation. A sad story, told in an earnest, light-hearted, humurous and heartfelt manner. Jarecki does it again.

See more

Oct 22, 2018

aN ambitious look at Elvis' back story. Maybe it's a familiar story to elvis fans, but for one who's not, like me, it was a wonderful metaphor for how a talented person (usa) filled with trust and naivite (USA) can be taken advantage of by con artists and blame-shifters (usa), and decline into self-destruction due to innocent greed (USA). I loved how people who knew elvis, whose music was influenced by elvis, or who otherwise have strong feelings about elvis were invited to reminisce, sing or opine in the back seat of Elvis' Rolls Royce as it crossed the USA!

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

POST RATING

Eugene Jarecki

Director

Eugene Jarecki

Self

Alec Baldwin

Self

Chuck D

Self

Ethan Hawke

Self

Mike Myers

Self

Gimme Danger

95%

71%

Gimme Danger

Watchlist

The Sparks Brothers

95%

98%

The Sparks Brothers

Watchlist

TRAILER

for The Sparks Brothers

We Are X

83%

84%

We Are X

Watchlist

TRAILER

for We Are X

CSNY: Deja Vu

68%

70%

CSNY: Deja Vu

Watchlist

Whitney

88%

75%

Whitney

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Whitney

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

The King: Trailer 1

2:26

Now Playing

View more videos

View more photos

Synopsis

Filmmaker Eugene Jarecki takes a musical road trip across the U.S. in Elvis Presley's 1963 Rolls-Royce during the 2016 presidential election, comparing Elvis's transition from country boy to "The King" to America's transformation into an empire.

Director: Eugene Jarecki
Producer: Christopher St. John, Christopher Frierson, Georgina Hill, Eugene Jarecki, David Kuhn
Screenwriter: Eugene Jarecki
Distributor: Oscilloscope Laboratories
Production Co: Backup Films, Charlotte Street Films
Rating: R (Some Disturbing Images|Language|Brief Drug Use)
Genre: Documentary, Music
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 22, 2018, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 18, 2018
Box Office (Gross USA): $253.0K
Runtime: 1h 47m

Join The Newsletter

Join The Newsletter

Cookie Settings