I’ve never been so excited to cover a film festival as I am to help cover the 2019 Fantasia International Film Festival. So first and foremost, I would like to thank Fantasia for allowing me to help cover this coveted festival with all of these amazing films. Seeing all of the incredible titles in the library was basically as mouth watering as a steak to a dog. I have always been attracted to titles and the first one that stuck out to me was writer and director Jennifer Reeder’s film Knives and Skin. When I received access to this film I had to dive right in! So is this a movie that I think everyone will be raving about or did it miss the mark? Let’s break it down.

Official Synopsis of Knives and Skin

This film is about a mystical teen noir that follows a young girl’s disappearance in the rural Midwest and its effect on teens and parents.

What Works:

I can not gush enough about the soundtrack to this film. I feel like the music was directly picked for viewers like me. It honestly set my soul on fire and and still have “Whisper to a Scream” stuck in my head. Sometimes music can take away from a film and for this film it helped evolve it. Although the music was done in a Glee-like way it didn’t feel like Glee at all.

I really dug the stylistic approach to Knives and Skin. This is not your average cliched or rehashed “teenage girl goes missing type of film”. Each character is rather eccentric but not in an over the top way. This style of film makes it feel new age and is on a completely different level when it comes to cinematography. I love how truly layered the film is and I am excited to go back and see what themes I may have missed the first time around. At times, the movie made me feel empowered and in my book that shows huge marks of a fantastic director and writer in Reed. Although her screen time was limited I have to give major props to Raven Whitley. I think she has quite the career in front of her. However, the true standout performance for me goes to Marika Engelhardt. She played this role in the only terms I can think to explain it is oddly beautiful.

What Didn’t Work:

I really did enjoy this peculiar journey that is Knives and Skin. However, I can tell that this movie is not going to be for everyone. If I had to nitpick anything I would say the run time is a little long and could lose viewers because of that. But again that is just me finding something to nitpick at. Otherwise the film is whole heartedly enjoyable.

Final Thoughts

If you are looking for a run of the mill girl gone missing flick Knives and Skin is not for you. If you are looking for real in-depth breakdowns of human emotions and character development you are going to gravitate towards it. Knives and Skin is unique and unlike anything I have ever seen before. Congratulations to the whole cast and crew.