Knife + Heart

In the end, I wasn’t as bothered as I had expected from reading the synopsis before the screening. Fortunately, the scenes depicting the shooting of gay porn are not explicit at all. On the contrary, they are nicely lightened with humour, which is, for the viewer, a little bit of a lifeline. Other than that, however, the downright stupid explanation for the killer’s motive and the way his identity is revealed by the heroine, presented in all seriousness, is utterly kitsch and stands as some emotion-based romantic giallo art. The creators’ attempt to cover those shortcomings with interesting visual styling and a good vintage music track is, unfortunately, not enough to compensate for the barren story. This is a very B-like giallo parody at best. [Sitges 2018] (10/10/2018)

The French-Mexican-Swiss production Knife+Heart is a great homage to 70s Giallo movies. However, by the time you finish watching the movie, you realize the 60s vibe is about the only interesting thing about the movie. It could have been more hardcore with pornographic scenes yet settles for an edgy love story, making the movie unengaging, lengthy, supposedly dramatic, and overly emotional. (02/17/2020)

Knife + Heart is a weird genre mash-up that combines an erotic thriller with a mystery and a romantic drama in a very strange way. I understand that the director wanted to pay homage to giallo films, but by sticking too literally to the attributes of a genre that has been passé for some time now, he created yet another cheap-looking film, where screenwriting logic goes by the wayside and wannabe shocking scenes and cheesy plot come in. On the other hand, the film is memorable precisely because of its authentic 70s look. Another plus point was the portrayal of the relationship between Anne and Loïs. Otherwise, it's just weird! (04/06/2020)

Knife + Heart is a film that doesn’t want to be liked. In the atmosphere of 1970s France, a group of gays headed by lesbian Vanessa Paradis make gay porn and are gradually done with a knife hidden in a black dildo. A bit giallo, OK, we like that. But the film is full of all sorts of gay sex between men, making it watchable only for a very limited audience. And the desperate mood of the characters and the absurd dream sequences supposedly expressing their lack of fulfillment and outcast status do not make the film any more likable, much less help its thriller plot line. [Cannes] (05/20/2018)