I like to think The Knife started with The League. Here’s Mark Duplass, Pete on the show, playing his own fantasy football team. He’s elated Oakland’s defense is killing Jason Mantzoukas’s team today, specifically the corner Nnamdi Asomugha. Years later, he sees Nnamdi has become a great actor, and to prevent Jason from murdering him, Mark helps the cornerback turned actor also become a director at the same time. Asomugha continues his ascent to the most talented thespian among not only football players, but all athletes in general; all apologies to Mr. Taylor Swift.
We’re at the end of another long day for Chris (Nnamdi Asomugha). Working double shifts and renovating his newly bought house he barely can afford, he drops into bed with his supportive but equally tired wife Alexandra (Aja Naomi King) after saying goodnight to his 10ish twins Kendra (Amari Price) and Ryley (Aiden Price). All hopes Chris can get 3 hours of deep sleep before his next shift are shattered an hour in, when strange noises come from inside the house. A mysterious stranger (Lucinda Jenney) is inside an eerily unresponsive. Chris gets closer to her to help, something happens, waking Alex, who finds Chris, a knife in the corner of the room, and the stranger, unconscious, on the floor below him. The couple call the police, bringing Officer Padilla (Manny Jacinto), who senses something fishy; he calls Detective Carlsen (Melissa Leo), the best PD on the force, who will get to the bottom of this.
Other than the clearly eyebrow raising title, The Knife isn’t here for big action. This is a movie of little choices, little movements, and little sequences. But collectively, they carry as big a results as a giant shoot out in a bigger film. Asomugha/Mark Duplass’s script sets up the gray areas efficiently, so when we get to the kitchen, we understand why the whole family is worried about what is gonna happen. The script doesn’t paint the cops purely either, as Detective Carlsen uses all the tricks of her trade to get the answers she needs from this investigation, not all of them necessarily legal. There is one scene that gives us the fear of violence, but otherwise, the fear The Knife is going for is the fear of worst case scenarios of poor choices, which allows the viewer to paint in their own head the end result of a white lie here or an error of omission there. The grounded reality of the movie makes it even more scary than your run of the mill jump scare horror film even.
Asomugha directs to service his actors. There’s lots of extreme facial closeups here, letting each actor give their full range of emotions with or without saying words. It’s mostly invisible, letting the actors carry the show, not a bad choice with the small but great cast. Even though she’s the moral compass of the movie, the Melissa Leo closeups use those penetrating shark eyes to perfection; there’s nothing nurturing there, just the pursuit of the cold hard truth, unbending, unflinching. Aja Naomi King and Nnamdi Asomugha give the opposite: fear, and general humanity for the perilous state they find themselves in. Wonderfully juxtaposed by their first interaction: a sweet, tender married couple night that shows how the two care for one another and live for one another. The Knife only works if the cast brings their A game, and thankfully, everyone’s up to the task.
Sky’s the limit for Nnamdi Asomugha. I can’t believe how great he’s become in such a short time in the movie game. It’s gonna come crashing down when he makes his own sports autobiography, but hopefully we’re years and several artistic entertainments away from that. Rafi bomb!