On hearing of Talihina Sky: The Story of Kings of Leon, my initial thoughts were that a documentary about this band was perhaps a bit premature. Kings of Leon have been occupying the public consciousness since 2003, when their debut album Youth and Young Manhood was released. Eight years is short when you consider that When You’re Strange, Tom DiCillos documentary on The Doors, was released over forty years after the band made their impression on rock history.

Perhaps I was misguided in my initial expectation that Talihina Sky would be a simple history of Kings of Leon. Director Stephen C. Mitchell looks to the band’s family background (KOL are comprised of three brothers and one cousin), and their religious upbringing to find the true substance in their story.

Mitchell heads to the bands hometown of Talihina, Oklahoma for an annual family reunion. Here he meets family and friends, who make up the band’s colourful background. Mitchell interviews the band’s mother and father, who we learn are now separated. Their father Ivan made a career as a Pentecostal preacher, so naturally their upbringing was heavily religious. Mitchell examines the contradictions present within a rock n’ roll band with a religious background and reveals the personal difficulties that come with it; it is here that the film develops its general focus around lead singer Caleb Followill, who seems to be least at ease with these contradictions.  

Despite the general focus on Caleb however, the film attempts to capture as many characters from the bands past as possible. It moves loosely to explore the personalities of some of the older generation from Talihina, whose idiosyncrasies influenced the band in various ways. While these are some of the most interesting characters in the documentary, they do cause a deviation from the film’s key themes; this weakens Mitchell’s exploration of the band’s struggle.

It is when the story returns to Caleb and his father, who is revealed to have led something of a double life, that the film becomes deeply interesting. However this angel of the story suffers, as it is relatively brief leading it to feel like part-bombshell, part-side note.  All in all this is the problem with the film, while Mitchell uncovers a wealth of interesting insights the film feels somewhat unfocused. Nevertheless, Talihina Sky still exceeds in being much more enlightening than your average rock-doc.