Aside from hearing a few singles, I have never gotten into the Tennessee-born band Kings of Leon, much less know about their history. With his debut Talihina Sky: The Story of Kings of Leon, director Stephen C. Mitchell manages to fill in all those gaps. The documentary tracks the large, extended Followill family from their religious upbringing to the 2002 formation of the group by Nathan, Caleb, and Jared Followill, and their cousin Matthew, and continues well beyond.
Screening as a work-in-progress, Mitchell frames a family reunion as the main event, but jumps around to a number of different aspects of the group. This awkward back-and-forth structure makes for a scattered narrative, hindering what could have been a concise piece. With that said, there is enough going on in most of these sidetracks to entertain.
Like The Fighter, this isn’t about what you presume. Replace music with boxing, and the majority of the film focuses on family drama like David O. Russell‘s hit. Ivan Leon, the Followill father, was a Pentecostal preacher and we learn about their poverty-stricken upbringing. The most interesting aspect comes with the band questioning their faith as they pursue this rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle. There is even the set of interesting side characters in the form of Uncles and grandparents. These are people that have lived their entire life in the small town and find ecstatic joy in being connected to the band and their success.
Caleb’s personal confessions and dealing with his strained relationship with the band is equally gripping, but Mitchell also focuses on the band recording their new album. It doesn’t quite feel like part of the religious section, making for a disjointed story. For fans of the band, and even those newcomers wanting a backstory, Talihina Sky should please. One wishes it could just hit a littler closer to home. Nick Newman (follow him on Twitter here) and I further discussed the film in a video review, which you can check out below.