It’s the summer of ’79 and gay porn producer Anne has lost her relationship with her coworker. Her lover woes are only further complicated when a serial killer begins to target her film stars.
The French don’t shy away from making love and embracing their desires. It’s a cultural staple that’s internationally known. Viewers should be forewarned that Knife + Heart isn’t a thriller made for most movie nights. As the main character, Anne, is a producer of low budget gay pornography which is often on full display during the film’s run. Albeit soft-core, and akin to something that you could have expected on late night HBO or Showtime many years ago. As Anne’s job is integral to the plot of the film, such scenes aren’t one-offs, and are sprinkled throughout the narrative. This isn’t detrimental, but very much something an audience should be mentally prepared for as they sit down for a viewing.
The film opens up in a gay nightclub, where patrons are seeking and partaking in sexual encounters with desirable strangers. An attendee spots a masked man, and slips into a side room with him to embrace one another. However, after being tied down, the young club-goer is quickly killed by the masked stranger. The weapon of choice? A blade hidden within a dildo. The wildly unexpected kill sets the tone for the film which juggles gorgeous shots with outright comedic shock. There lies the problem I have with Knife + Heart. The 2018 horror thriller has scenes, not unlike the opening, mixed in with art house style transitions, and some supernatural elements that are never fully fleshed out. However, when Knife + Heart is grounded and only juggling the occasional comedic line, that’s where I found it most endearing.
Anne, played by Vanessa Paradis, steals the show as a spiraling individual who can’t keep themselves sober enough to maintain her relationship with Lois, her co-worker. Anne struggles with maintaining herself through her day-to-day life. Lois, played by Kate Moran, draws a firm line in the sand. No longer able to put up with Anne’s sporadic, and often overbearing, personality. The back and forth between these two characters are often stress inducing. Anne’s behavior becomes concerning as she goes to more extreme lengths to win Lois back. While Anne is our main character, her actions often left me put off. Both actresses bring the appropriate energy to such unpleasant situations. Vanessa Paradis has over 70 films in her career history, with Kate Moran sitting at a modest 43. Both of them aren’t shy about on screen drama, and sell it well, likely thanks to their experiences from other emotionally driven roles both have had over the years.
When the masked killer from the film’s opening begins killing Anne’s actors, her cold response is to turn their tragedies into adult films. Whether it’s a slaying, or an interrogation with authorities, nothing is off the table for porn parody in Anne’s eyes. She fails to take the situation seriously until after several more of her actors are killed off one-by-one. Seeking help from the authorities doesn’t pan out, and Anne is left to find and stop the killer on her own. The killer himself has an origin story worthy of any iconic slasher that Anne comes to understand during her wayward journey through solving the mystery. This is another angle that works beautifully and gives Knife + Heart enough originality to make it worth suggesting to a new, capable, audience.
Written and directed by Yann Gonzalez, Heart + Knife is only his second feature film. Previous entries in his resume include such short films as We Will Never Be Alone Again and 2017’s Islands. His experience with short films that rely on stylish presentation to carry a short form narrative makes Heart + Knife’s artistic approach to transitions and flashbacks make perfect sense. The film was co-written by Cristiano Mangione, who had previously worked with Gonzalez in 2008 as an actor in his short film, I Hate You Little Girls. Mangione most recently wrote a horror short film from 2024 called Night, while Yann Gonzalez also continued to work on his short form approach as a writer and producer. This would have been a much better approach for Heart + Knife, as I wound up wondering where the story was going and how quickly it would get there. The unique visuals provide enough of a distraction from the pacing of the narrative, but I can’t help but think that I’d appreciate the concept more if it was condensed.
The soundtrack for the film flawlessly captures the essence of every scene. Whether it’s a whimsical score done during a dream-like sequence, energetic and lively music in a club, or the tense and foreboding tones during each kill… The work of M83 shines as an essential element to Knife + Heart’s semi-surreal tone. M83’s music range can be found most recently in the sci-drama, Resurrection, by Chinese director Bi Gan. On the western front, fans of M83 can find his music at work with the likes of Tom Cruise and Morgan Freeman in Oblivion. M83’s international and genre reach is seemingly limitless.
There’s nothing quite like Heart + Knife and, despite a narrative I find suitable for a short film, it’s not a movie I’m going to forget any time soon. For anyone seeking to explore an erotic thriller that doesn’t take itself too seriously, they can experience Heart + Knife on Amazon Prime with English subtitles. They can expect a slick design for the killer, romantic drama in the workspace, and enough softcore gay pornography to make your viewing partners laugh, blush, or perhaps even both.