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.

| Jun 2, 2020

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

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 28, 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.

| Jan 17, 2020

Way too ambitious for its own good.

| Dec 14, 2019

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

| Dec 14, 2019

The documentary 'The King' fails to try to relate the singer with the rise of the current president of the United States. About Elvis, we must assume that he made some mistakes, but not this one. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Aug 19, 2019

Life, liberty and the pursuit of Elvis

| Jun 11, 2019

Jarecki and team winnowed down hours of footage to a compelling examination of the intersection of pop culture and politics at a time when that very intersection is threatening to be the end of life as we know it here in these great United States.

| May 29, 2019

With The King, Eugene Jarecki delivers a brilliantly original music doc that deconstructs the decline of the America empire through one of its greatest icons.

| May 24, 2019

Even as the left-hand path of the editing bay weaves a satisfying tonal dissonance, the filmmakers still end up stepping on their own feet.

| Original Score: 1.5/5 | Mar 20, 2019

An ambitious but not a particularly jarring journey covering the troubled life of Elvis Presley some forty years after his death.

| Original Score: B- | Jan 25, 2019

A bouncy and reflective sentiment about Presley's ever-lasting staple on the American psyche...dutifully seduces us with the Elvis mystique and his brand of antiquated celebrity applied to the current-day mindset of American consciousness.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Dec 6, 2018

The King is a fascinating take on the Elvis phenomenon, which documents his life within a cultural context.

| Oct 30, 2018

Elvis fans will love it, anyone else will appreciate it, but will not feel the need to rewatch.

| Original Score: 6.5/10 | Oct 22, 2018

Elvis is clearly used as a metaphor by Jarecki. Undeniably progressive in his approach and his politics, the filmmaker still crafts a compelling portrait that reaches beyond simply ideology.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 11, 2018

Elvis Presley's 1963 Rolls-Royce serves as a metaphor for what 's wrong with this country in two-time Sundance Grand Jury winner Eugene Jarecki's new documentary.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 10, 2018

A compelling portrait of Elvis Presley that contemplates what he meant to America and its ever-evolving dream.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 10, 2018

It's all rather random, but never dull.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 6, 2018

Jarecki's road-trip never reaches answers or a destination, but it's a curiously diverting ride.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 5, 2018

The King is a visual essay - it proposes a thesis, then builds a convincing argument, bouncing between Presley's life and the state of the nation.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 27, 2018