UIC prof crafts suburban nightmare in ‘Knives and Skin’

Chicago-based filmmaker and UIC professor Jennifer Reeder does a pretty good David Lynch impression.

She wrote and directed “Knives and Skin,” a surreal, neon-tinged noir thriller about the disappearance of a teenage girl and the effect it has on the residents of a small Midwestern town. It has drawn comparisons to Lynch’s work since its debut at the Berlin Film Festival in February and subsequent screenings at the Tribeca Film Festival and AFI Fest.

“I’m kind of waiting for David Lynch to weigh in. The film keeps getting compared to ‘Twin Peaks’ so I’m sort of waiting for my phone to ring and for him for him to be like, ‘Jennifer, it’s David, we need to talk,’ ” Reeder said, imitating the shouting cadence Lynch used in character as Gordon Cole on “Twin Peaks.”

In addition to Lynch, Reeder said she and the film’s creative team also took inspiration from the work of Dario Argento and other Italian giallo horror directors, particularly for their use of color and theatrical lighting.

“Knives and Skin” at times feels like a fever dream, with offbeat character moments and lush, hallucinatory visuals punctuated by haunting renditions of ’80s pop songs performed by a school choir.

While the central mystery revolves around Carolyn Harper (Raven Whitley) going missing, the film is more interested in the ways her disappearance sends shockwaves of grief, fear and distrust through her community.

Several of the town’s teenage girls experience a sort of mass awakening as the search for Carolyn continues, coming to terms with their identities and sexualities and embracing newfound confidence in family and relationship dynamics.

“I just think that, as surrealist as ‘Twin Peaks’ is, as surreal as ‘Knives and Skin’ is, I actually do feel like there’s some truth to that in small towns,” Reeder said. “When something dramatic happens in a town where nothing dramatic happens, you know, it really gives everyone license to kind of reevaluate their life.”

IFC Midnight

While it’s not an outright horror film, Reeder said she was drawn to conventions of the genre for its ability to act as a metaphor and draw audiences in to deeper social or cultural messages.

“The genre that is like horror/thriller, let’s say, you know for me that’s like the perfect kind of curtain to use for this film,” Reeder said. “And then you pull that back and you get to talk about, you know, aspects of consent, or the kind of family dynamic, or you get to talk about female friendship and small town dynamics, and I love that so much.“

“Knives and Skin” was largely shot inside homes in Jefferson Park on Chicago’s Northwest Side, along with northwest suburban Melrose Park. School scenes were shot at Taft High School in Norwood Park and several outdoor scenes were filmed in southwest suburban Lemont.

“All the actors are from Chicago. The entire crew is from Chicago. We shot it in Chicago,” Reeder said. “I think that it’s really important for anybody who’s, you know, wanting to make films or consuming films to really support what’s happening in Chicago filmmaking. We are distinct from New York or L.A., but this was a completely professional production that’s had a great festival run and is about to have, like, a really robust theatrical run, and it’s a truly Chicago-made film.”

Some audiences have confused the film with Rian Johnson’s current hit “Knives Out,” which has a similar title and released a week earlier, as well as Yann Gonzalez’s “Knife+Heart,” which screened at Cannes last year, but Reeder said she welcomes such mix-ups and considers her film to be in good company.

“What’s interesting is ‘Knives and Skin’ gets compared to ‘Brick’ a lot, which is Rian’s other kind of teen noir,” Reeder said. “So there’s something, there’s a zeitgeist in there someplace, you know, but there’s also a French film by this guy, Yann Gonzales, who I like quite a bit, who made a film called ‘Knife+Heart,’ which is sort of similar. … It’s a super great film and also kind of genre-adjacent, and he’s a friend of mine. I don’t know Rian Johnson, but I do know Yann Gonzales, so yeah, between ‘Knives and Skin,’ ‘Knife+Heart’ and ‘Knives Out,’ you know, I don’t mind if someone is searching for those two films then and ends up on my film.”

“Knives and Skin” premieres on video on demand platforms Friday and opens at the Music Box Theatre Dec. 13.