NEW YORK, Aug. 14 (UPI) — Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey says the titular widower he plays in The Rivals of Amziah King learns important life lessons from the bees he keeps.

“The bees are Amziah’s church,” McConaughey, 56, told UPI in a recent Zoom interview.

“They’re like people. They’re like this community,” he explained. “When you see the end of the film, what Amziah is saying about the bees and how they live and how they treat each other, is a mirror to exactly who his tribe is.”

Directed by Andrew Patterson and in theaters on Friday, the film is set in contemporary Oklahoma and follows Amziah as he ekes out a living, plays music with his friends at potluck dinners and re-connects with his former foster daughter Kateri (Angelina LookingGlass).

“[Kateri] goes from being apprentice to a queen by the end. What is it, an allegory? What is it, a metaphor? What do you call that?” McConaughey said.

“Whatever that is, that’s part of the fable and why the script really worked and what was made well for cinema, when those things tie in together and it’s not just spoken words, but you see the visual. That’s good film-making.”

LookingGlass said Kateri learns from Amziah that not everybody is against her.

“She grew up with really difficult circumstances and I think that made her really closed-off in the beginning of the film,” the actress noted, referring to how she and her brother were moved around to numerous group homes after Amziah’s wife died.

“She keeps her guard up for a little bit, but Amziah is the one to kind of break that down because he sees her and knows who she is. It is definitely kind of built as such a really interesting arc in the movie, just seeing her being just so sweet and so comfortable with him,” LookingGlass said, adding, “In the second act, she becomes this really strong and fierce person and I think she’s learned from Amziah just about community and…”

“Trust,” McConaughey chimed in.

“Yeah, that, too,” LookingGlass said.

Patterson emphasized there is a need for original stories like Amziah in cinema.

“We need things that take bold swings,” he said.

“There’s a parallel in what cinematic viewing once was, which was a communal experience shared together,” he added.

“Amziah is a communal experience inside the story with different beats, right? Essentially, you meet a community, you watch them go through something tremendously sad and difficult, and then emerge triumphant. I want stories in a room with other people where I feel that.”

He said these inspiring shared experiences don’t have to be limited to movie-going.

“I’ve felt that in many different arenas, whether it was in a live concert, whether it was in a sermon with other people in the seats next to me, whether it was a really great stand-up [comedy show] that can take you different places,” Patterson explained.

“I want storytelling told in a communal space to survive forever and I know it will. It’s primal for us, and that’s why I think this story matters.”

The cast includes Kurt Russell, Cole Sprouse, Tony Revolori, Owen Teague, Jake Horowitz and Scott Shepherd.