Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Graphic
- campy
- neon-lit
- erotic
- cult horror night
- arthouse horror evening
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film as a stylish, boldly queer, giallo-inspired thriller that transforms sex and violence into an intellectually provocative genre experience.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The film explicitly reworks giallo conventions through a gay-porn production world and queer characters.
Anne's work directing gay pornography provides the social world, victims, clues, and investigative framework.
Anne's attempt to win back Lois drives her filmmaking while intensifying her response to the murders.
Paris nightlife, neon lights, pornographic imagery, and masked-killer suspense create a vivid erotic-noir surface.
Films like Knife+Heart, and why
The Strange Color of Your Body's Tears
shared giallo-inspired mystery, stylized violence, neon aesthetics, and queer-adjacent transgressive atmosphere
The Duke of Burgundy
shared erotic horror, queer themes, dreamlike visual style, and emotionally volatile romantic dynamics
StageFright: Aquarius
shared flamboyant camp, slasher mechanics, sexualized violence, and cult-horror sensibility
Berberian Sound Studio
shared art-horror experimentation, erotic tension, and psychologically destabilizing atmosphere
Movie Details
- Director
- Yann Gonzalez
- Release Date
- 2018-06-27
- Runtime
- 102 min
- Rating
- 5.8 / 10 (234)
Cast
- Vanessa Paradis
- Nicolas Maury
- Kate Moran
- Jonathan Genet
- Romane Bohringer
- Khaled Alouach
- Félix Maritaud
- Noé Hernández
- Thibault Servière
- Bastien Waultier
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Philo, AMC+ Amazon Channel, Shudder, Fandor Amazon Channel, Screambox Amazon Channel, Midnight Pulp Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video
- Buy
- Amazon Video
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Knife+Heart about?
- A heartbroken gay-porn director investigates a masked killer while turning grief, desire, and cinematic excess into a neon queer nightmare.
- What is Knife+Heart like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Knife+Heart as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Knife+Heart violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Knife+Heart as graphic.
- What did critics think of Knife+Heart?
- Critics broadly praised the film as a stylish, boldly queer, giallo-inspired thriller that transforms sex and violence into an intellectually provocative genre experience.
- Which films are like Knife+Heart?
- Films with a similar feel include The Strange Color of Your Body's Tears, The Duke of Burgundy, StageFright: Aquarius, and Berberian Sound Studio.
- How long is Knife+Heart?
- Knife+Heart runs 102 minutes.
- Where can I watch Knife+Heart?
- In United States, Knife+Heart streams on Philo, AMC+ Amazon Channel, Shudder, Fandor Amazon Channel, Screambox Amazon Channel, Midnight Pulp Amazon Channel.
