Ren Faire

Dir. Lance Oppenheim.  2024, 172 mins (3 episodes). U.S. DCP. For half a century, George Coulam, known to his employees as King George, has reigned with an iron fist over the Texas Renaissance Festival, the largest “faire” in the world. As he turns 86, he realizes it’s time to find a romantic partner, settle down, and pick a successor for his medieval-themed empire from his pool of longtime employees. Subject to the gaze of director Lance Oppenheim (Some Kind of Heaven), Coulam’s succession machinations are both baroquely theatrical and earthily candid. Since everyone in the troupe is a performer, there’s a collaborative synergy between their real lives and the documentary’s ripe stylizations, culminating in a Shakespearean—or Roy-esque—denouement that does not disappoint.

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