Knives and Skin (2019)

Mubi Monday this week finds us again sticking with the horror genre. We have another title that was recently added to the platform and that is…Knives and Skin (2019).

Title: Knives and Skin

Director: Jennifer Reeder

Runtime: 1 hour 51 minutes

Released: February 9, 2019 (Berlin International Film Festival)

Available to stream on: Mubi and Shudder

Lisa (Marika Engelhardt) is searching the house for her daughter, Carolyn (Raven Whitley), all while holding a knife. When she barges into Carolyn’s room, she realizes that Carolyn has snuck out.

Meanwhile, Carolyn heads down to the lake with a jock from her school named Andy (Ty Olwin). Andy thinks he’s about to get lucky, so he doesn’t bat an eye when Carolyn asks to carve her initial into his forehead. However, when he realizes that nothing sexual is going to come of this, he shoves Carolyn to the ground, hops in his car, and speeds off.

Carolyn bleeds from her head, screaming for help as she struggles on the ground. This is the last time we see Carolyn alive.

As the search for Carolyn begins, we quickly realize that everyone in town seems to be hiding a secretive side of themselves. But who is hiding the secret behind Carolyn’s disappearance?

The only thing more upsetting than starting a horror movie and seeing “Blumhouse” is seeing “IFC Films”.

Unfortunately, that remains true with Knives and Skin (2019).

We have main characters with absolutely zero depth to them. There are multiple stories of townspeople that add nothing of value and ultimately go nowhere. There isn’t a lot here plot wise to justify a run time of nearly two hours.

Things don’t get much better when we get to the acting and dialogue. Everyone seems to be acting in their own separate movie when on-screen together. Nobody seems capable of speaking in a natural manner or matching anyone else in terms of tone or emotion.

The whole thing is a frustrating mess.

While I won’t recommend that you drop what you’re doing to go watch Knives and Skin (2019), I won’t tell you to not watch it either.

Maybe you give it a shot and find out that it’s your jam.

Or maybe you’re like me and just want an hour and fifty-one minutes of your life back.

If you’ve seen Knives and Skin (2019), tell me why you agree or disagree with my take on it in the comments below or anywhere across social media.