Knives and Skin

Riffing on genre conventions but from a feminist point of view, Jennifer Reeder’s Knives and Skin chronicles the haunted inhabitants of a small town following the disappearance of marching band cutie Carolyn Harper. “Awash in Christopher Rejano’s neon-hued cinematography and punctuated by Nick Zinner’s eerie synth soundscapes, Reeder’s meandering tale . . . centers a kind of radical and rebellious girlhood, and effortless inclusivity, seldom seen onscreen. . . . A mesmerizing tapestry—mundane middle Americana meets magical realism—in a town where the grown-ups are most certainly not alright, but the teens at least offer a glimmer of hope for the future” (Jen Yamato, Los Angeles Times).