King Arthur’s Night
(Canada, 110 min.)
Dir. John Bolton
Through its unique form and spellbinding fiction, King Arthur’s Night is a refreshingly modern retelling of the eponymous historical epic. The film is simultaneously a cinematic recreation of playwrights Niall McNeill and Marcus Youssef’s award-winning play of the same name, a backstage documentary with the cast and crew behind its the retelling, and behind the scenes footage from both shoots. As is understandable from the film’s narrative triptych, there are a lot of moving parts in King Arthur’s Night, but they are handled with visible and delicate care by director John Bolton (Aim for the Roses) and editor Brendan Woollard in a sincere attempt to explore the world of King Arthur. The camaraderie visible on set and through the interviews only heightens this effort, as we see a company of artists with and without Down syndrome recreate a popular legend.
The film’s tale of King Arthur plays out as a mystifying musical rendition of the Knights of the Round Table, with a narrative that is wicked and wild enough to align seamlessly with the pace of the modern world. In King Arthur’s Night (the play and its cinematic recreation) King Arthur (Niall McNeill) sits on a pier, revisiting his life with wizard Merlin (Marcus Youssef) as they recount incidents from Arthur’s past parsing through discussions of fatherhood, childhood, love, and fate. This is thematically recreated in the documentary section of the film, which features an interview between Niall and Marcus as they discuss the play’s origins and how the two worked together to bring Niall’s vision to life.
The film is guided through its complex structure by the timely narration of the Lady of the Lake (Evelyn Chew), a character who describes the video and narrates the story to make the film accessible for blind and partially sighted audiences. The narration truly sets the film apart in terms of creating accessible media, exemplifying the team’s commitment to holistic accessibility. Even through its central events where King Arthur has a half-goat baby with his half-sister Morgana, who he essentially disowns and disregards, plays out as an allegory of inclusion and the immense mobilization that historically marginalized groups have needed to undertake to get a seat at the table. In its ideas of community and accessibility relayed through classic stories, the film evokes another recent formally experimental documentary, Grand Theft Hamlet (2024). It is heartwarming to see across both films how theatre and the arts offer a space for community and togetherness that, even centuries after these stories first energized the masses, remain unchallenged and unparalleled.
At times, however, King Arthur’s Night succumbs to its own idea of perfection. The film sometimes finds itself adrift juggling various strands and the viewer is emotionally distanced from the otherwise mesmerizing events unfolding on screen. The abstraction of the musical numbers exemplifies the zenith of this phenomenon where the audience is entranced by the beauty unfolding on-screen but unsure of the significance within the film’s context. That also implies that audience members who are familiar with the play itself– and by extension with the intricate musical numbers–will derive increased satisfaction from watching the cinematic construction of these songs.
There is an interesting conversation in the film with Veda Hille (who also composed the music for the play) about how she curated the exact notations for McNeill’s ideas to create a truly inimitable album. The documentary, altogether, has something for everyone, despite being an inextricably nuanced film. For those curious to see how McNeill and Youssef developed King Arthur’s Night, this film is unmissable. For those interested in watching a piece that brings together theatre, cinema, art, and music, this film is worth it. And for those looking to watch a doc that sensitively explores community and culture through the eyes and minds of people who are often disregarded throughout history and society, King Arthur’s Night is the Holy Grail.
