Arkansas Movie Storyline. In Clark Duke’s directorial debut Arkansas, Kyle (Liam Hemsworth) and Swin (Clark Duke) live by the orders of an Arkansas-based drug kingpin named Frog (Vince Vaughn), whom they’ve never met. Posing as park rangers by day, they operate as low-level drug couriers by night under the watchful eye of Frog’s proxies (John Malkovich, Vivica A. Fox).
However, after one too many inept decisions, Kyle and Swin find themselves directly in Frog’s crosshairs, who mistakenly sees them as a threat to his empire. Based on John Brandon’s book of the same name, ARKANSAS weaves together three decades of Deep South drug trafficking to explore the cycle of violence that turns young men into criminals and old men into legends.
Arkansas is a 2020 American neo-noir crime thriller film directed by Clark Duke in his directorial debut, from a screenplay he wrote with Andrew Boonkrong. It stars Liam Hemsworth, Duke, Michael Kenneth Williams, Vivica A. Fox, Eden Brolin, Chandler Duke, John Malkovich and Vince Vaughn. It is based on the novel Arkansas by John Brandon. It was released on Premium VOD, DVD and Blu-ray on May 5, 2020, by Lionsgate Films, rather than being released theatrically due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chapters
Chapter One: Boredom is Beautiful
Drug dealer Kyle Ribb is “promoted” to move product wholesale in Arkansas, part of a loose criminal organization run by a man named Frog. Kyle and his new partner, Swin Horn, meet Bright, a park ranger working for Frog. He explains that Kyle and Swin are to work under him, living on the park grounds with cover identities as park employees while they traffic drugs across the southern U.S.
Swin begins dating Johnna, a nurse who brings him to a curio shop run by an eccentric owner. Kyle and Swin receive orders from a woman called “Her” to complete a deal in Castor, Louisiana, where they deliver product to a talkative Greek man. His grandson, Nick, follows them back to Arkansas. He assaults Bright in his home, and then tortures him for his stash of money, but both are killed in a struggle for Nick’s gun. Believing they will be blamed if Frog’s organization discovers what happened, Kyle and Swin bury the bodies. Kyle returns to Castor and kills the old Greek man.
Chapter Two: Frog
In 1985, Frog – revealed to be the curio shop owner – is a West Memphis pawnbroker. He is given a supply of drugs to move, but is kidnapped by a man hired by his buyer. Frog kills the man and escapes to Pine Bluff to work for another drug dealer named Almond. After an undetermined amount of time passes, Frog becomes dissatisfied with his share, and he calls the police on Almond in a set-up. The two amicably split after Almond is sent to prison, and Frog takes over his middleman on the condition that he kills Almond’s brother-in-law, whom he hates and sends his sister to a nursing home. The middleman later sells his wholesaler to Frog.
Chapter Three: The Bodies
In the present, Kyle and Swin discover Bright had $44,000 in cash and a suitcase full of human bones. Maintaining a cover story about Bright’s disappearance, Kyle and Swin accept another order from Her in person. Johnna visits them at Bright’s house when Barry, a man claiming to be the son of Bright’s friend, arrives to inform Bright of his father’s death. Kyle sends him away, but contradicts the lies they had told Johnna.
Swin takes Kyle to the curio shop to buy a gun. Unaware Frog is the proprietor, Swin offers to sell him the bones, but Frog declines to do business with them. Johnna reveals to Kyle that she is pregnant and is aware he and Swin are criminals. Kyle tells her everything, but assures her they have no plans to leave, and Johnna and Swin prepare for their child. Barry returns and menaces Swin and Johnna, but is killed by Kyle.
Chapter Four: The Twins
In 1988, Frog recruits twin brothers Tim and Thomas to his operation. Years later, now operating out of a donut shop, Frog and the twins are approached by a Knoxville dealer’s middleman for as much product as they can gather. Handling the deal alone, Frog is double-crossed and beaten before the twins arrive and kill the middleman. Frog, learning from Almond’s mistake, leaves his operation to the twins to run themselves, retiring with a percentage of their earnings to open his curio shop.
Chapter Five: One Way Trips
In the present, Kyle and Swin intimidate Her into giving them their next package of product. Frog, who sent Barry to investigate, is determined to eliminate them, and gives Her a final package for them to deliver in Hot Springs. At the Fordyce bathhouse, the pair are ambushed by the twins. While Thomas executes Swin, Tim tries to interrogate Kyle, who realizes Frog’s identity. Kyle escapes after gouging out Tim’s eyes, and gives Johnna the stash of money, telling her to find Swin’s family in Gray, Kentucky.
Frog advises Thomas to forgo revenge, but Thomas empties his joint accounts with Frog and euthanizes his blinded brother, leaving to hunt down Kyle. Burying Tim and burning his curios, Frog calls a contact and prepares to rebuild his business in Oklahoma, but is confronted by an injured Kyle. Seeing Kyle’s broken arm, Frog deduces that he encountered and killed Thomas. Kyle shoots Frog dead and takes his contact’s information, resigned to the life of a drug dealer. The film ends as Johnna drives alone through the night.
Arkansas (2020)
Directed by: Clark Duke
Starring: Liam Hemsworth, Clark Duke, Michael Kenneth Williams, Vivica A. Fox, Eden Brolin, Chandler Duke, John Malkovich, Vince Vaughn, Samantha M. Shaw, Chris Mullinax
Screenplay by: Clark Duke, Andrew Boonkrong
Production Design by: Scott Enge
Cinematography by: Steven Meizler
Film Editing by: Patrick J. Don Vito
Costume Design by: Ashley Heathcock
Set Decoration by: Laura Wallgren
Music by: The Flaming Lips
MPAA Rating: R for violence, language throughout, drug material and brief nudity.
Distributed by: Lionsgate Films
Release Date: May 5, 2020
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