Knives and Skin – Teenage Fanclub

Carolyn Harper is missing. This is the starting point of Knives and Skin, the latest movie directed bu Jennifer Reeder, who is more known for her short-movies (I Dream You Dream of Me, All Small Bodies, Crystal Lake…). Her first feature film, Signature Move, a comedy taking place in the world of female wrestling, was a love story between two women. The director already tackled questions of equality and feminism, that we can find in Knives and Skin. But here, the movie is darker, almost fantastic, and reminiscent of David Lynch’s cult tv show Twin Peaks. The disappearance of a beautiful and popular teenage girl, some sort of modern Laura Palmer, provokes a shockwave in a small Illinois town, bringing the inhabitants back to their fears : the loss of a child, doubts about affairs and family lies. To an extent where roles are reversed. The mothers regress, contrary to their daughters who embody a kind of wisdom. Bewitching, the music and the lighting are crucial in the identity of this film which invaded Deauville with a supernatural beauty. Interview.