70
Metascore
17 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 83The Film StageRory O'ConnorThe Film StageRory O'ConnorIt is a film that will entice the viewer’s senses, if not necessarily their brain activity.
- 83The A.V. ClubKatie RifeThe A.V. ClubKatie RifeThe gauzy cinematography also helps, as does the mise-en-scène, which poses Anne’s chosen family of proud perverts in studied tableaus reminiscent of the Renaissance masters. Only, you know, in a porno.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerThe Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerKnife hits you from its very first frame — and this is really a frame of celluloid and not a file of gigabytes — as a work engulfed in the pleasures of filmmaking's past.
- 70VarietyPeter DebrugeVarietyPeter DebrugeGonzalez has mastered the art of creating atmosphere and tone, but not tension, and the movie feels meandering and slow at times, since audiences are not invested in anyone’s survival.
- 67The A.V. ClubA.A. DowdThe A.V. ClubA.A. DowdKnife + Heart sometimes feels as rough around the edges and inelegantly plotted as its pornos-within-the-movie, but maybe that’s just conceptual consistency.
- 67IndieWireDavid EhrlichIndieWireDavid EhrlichFor a giallo riff so light on gore, Knife + Heart is still a bloody mess.
- 60CineVueMartyn ConterioCineVueMartyn ConterioGonzalez can be masterful in conjuring sexy imagery, febrile moods and erotic frissons, but his grip on the storytelling here is weak. Knife + Heart struggles to regain its initial momentum, falling flat until a lively climax.
- 50Screen DailyTim GriersonScreen DailyTim GriersonA film drunk on its own trashy, lurid aesthetic, Knife + Heart (Un Couteau Dans Le Coeur) has style to burn but not as much sense.
- 50Slant MagazineChuck BowenSlant MagazineChuck BowenThe film quickly settles into a holding pattern of repetitive porno-movie hijinks and increasingly listless murder scenes.
- 40The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawIt really is strange, a film with what is actually a pretty good premise for a comedy, but with no interest in actually being a comedy and also no interest in being a thriller, or even that mysterious erotic parable that it seems to be claiming to be.