-Written by Kyle Bain.
Through the ever changing landscape of Brooklyn, the Benetto family attempts to deal with love and loss. As they navigate through hardship, they must find themselves and do what they can to survive. Queen of Knives is the sequel to the 2020 film King of Knives, and the chaos has only just begun.
Having not seen King of Knives, not even being privy to its existence until I started watching Queen of Knives, I had no idea what to expect from this family and its abundance of characters. I knew nothing about them, and I knew not where this story could be headed. I think there’s something to be said about this in regard to my viewing experience–because trying to fill in the blanks and not understanding what had happened to these characters in the past hindered my ability to appreciate them on many levels.
Regardless of that, however, It becomes abundantly clear in the early going what the purpose of Queen of Knives is. Beyond the narrative, Queen of Knives early and often dives into the idea of the gender binary, spectrum, and whatever other words they use to describe this, and, again and again, viewers are meant to be educated on how gender and sexuality are changing. Honestly, while some of the characters’ stories have to do with the conversation being had throughout the film, it doesn’t feel necessary to bring it up time and time again (particularly in regard to things like trees). While this aspect of Queen of Knives doesn’t ruin the entire production, it makes moments difficult to appreciate.
What ultimately makes Queen of Knives so difficult to watch is the fact that it’s such a mess. It’s chaotic, fractured, and, again, far too messy to keep my attention. I found myself dizzied by the blurry narrative, struggling to make peace with the fact that a lot of what occurred didn’t make much sense to me. This goes back to me not being familiar with the first film in this larger story–and I truly believe that, had I seen King of Knives, that this would have at least been a slightly more enjoyable (and understandable) experience.
Queen of Knives is overly woke for no reason at all. Woke isn’t a word that I like to use, because it’s damning of both the person(s) I’m directing it at, and of myself. However, that’s really where Queen of Knives falls. I feel that way because narratives that typically run parallel to what is considered the “woke agenda” are attempted to be woven into the film unnaturally. The film feels frumpy, in part, as a result of this. The narrative is fractured for sure, but constantly inserting unnecessary dialogue (and other things) into the film makes that even more obvious. Queen of Knives feels incomplete–and that comes from the narrative and the inability of Writers Lindsay Joy and Gene Pope, and Director Jon Delgado to create something truly cohesive and organic.
Queen of Knives doesn’t do much to entertain honestly. In terms of lighting, cinematography, and the other technical aspects it’s fine–but, again, it doesn’t do much to set itself apart from the thousands of other films that have come and will come out this year. With no knowledge of the family–yup, I’m back to that–it was hard for me to appreciate the characters or their stories. Queen of Knives isn’t for me, but it certainly has an audience out there.
Directed by Jon Delgado.
Written by Lindsay Joy & Gene Pope.
Starring Gene Pope, Mel Harris, Roxi Pope, Emily Bennett, Alexandra Renzo, Tara Westwood, etc.
4/10 = WORTH THE RISK, BUT YOU’VE BEEN WARNED
