VENICE, Italy—Fentanyl addictions have taken hold of America. According to the U.S. State Department, some 70,000 people died from fentanyl related problems in 2023. The drug is difficult to trace at the border due to its chemical makeup, and it's considerably more potent than heroin. King Ivory, written and directed by John Swab, takes its title from one of fentanyls street names. The film attempts to tackle the fentanyl crisis that's rocked the nation—a noble cause indeed. Unfortunately the film is both overlong and underdeveloped.

There are three converging plot threads in King Ivory, which just premiered at the Venice Film Festival. One involves West (James Badge Dale), a cop tasked with defending Oklahoma from gun crime, alongside his wife and two kids. Then there's Smiley (Ben Foster), an inmate at a maximum security facility who earns his freedom via shocking acts. Finally, drug cartel leader Ramón Garza (Michael Mando) traffics people from Mexico to Oklahoma, but he becomes the target of a police hunt when one of his routine trips goes horribly wrong.

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