The fascinating career trajectory of ex-NFL Pro Bowler Nnamdi Asomugha continues, as he moves confidently from actor to feature film director. His debut, The Knife, is a tense little thriller bubbling with the racial anxieties of the time. While simple in construction and execution, the film explores what it means to be Black and safe in America when faced with a police system that has too often been weaponized against them. Without pushing the envelope quite far enough, perhaps because of his inexperience, Asomugha creates an uncomfortably palpable layer of tension that lasts throughout.
Asomugha stars as Chris, a construction worker and family man who is dutifully renovating their home. Exhausted, he checks in on his kids Kendra (Amari Price), and Ryley (Aiden Price), before heading to bed next to his wife, Alexandra (Aja Naomi King). As they sleep, Chris is awoken by a noise down the hall. Chris wakes up, grabs a small knife, and heads outside to discover an older white woman in the kitchen. In a flash, the situation escalates and the woman is left lying on the floor unconscious. An instant later, Alexandra and the kids are there, stunned with no idea what’s happened. Chris, struggling to catch his breath, has no idea, either. Did he…do something to her?
Age-old racial fears permeate The Knife. A white woman is lying hurt, possibly dying, on a Black family’s floor. Decades old this would have meant instant death for the Blacks involved, no trial, or at best, a circus trial with the verdict never in doubt. But have things improved that much today? Chris and Alexandra know well enough that they must call the police, and they do. But not before gathering everyone to get their stories straight, and not before Alexandra goes a step further, like the protective Mama Bear that she is. Legal or not, she’s going to make sure her family is okay. “You’re a Black man in America, Chris”, Alexandra tells her confused hubby, who is shellshocked at the speed in which their lives have unraveled.
Economic status enters the picture as if it were on ride-along with the legion of police officers that arrive on the scene. In Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest it’s interesting to note how the police rally to the support of Denzel Washington’s wealthy mogul, and give nothing but shade to his loyal chauffeur. In The Knife, the police show up in force and immediately suspect something is amiss, without any evidence to suggest it. Manny Jacinto plays a cop who doesn’t trust them from the start. The arrival of Homicide: Life On the Street veteran Melissa Leo as Detective Carlsen, ratchets the anxiety to another level. An older woman coming straight from a murder scene, she cuts through the bullshit with a wry smile, a calm, a gentle ease that could be deceptively dangerous.
Much of the film follows Carlsen as she interrogates the family and they hold up to varying degrees of effectiveness. In this contained, volatile environment, anything and everything can point a judgmental finger. Chris takes pain medication for his back, a totally innocent thing that could look quite different in the wrong context. His amnesia, Alexandra’s overprotective nature, the kids’ youthful frankness all of it falls under Carlsen’s intense scrutiny. Perhaps it’s Leo’s experience in this type of role, but Carlsen emerges as the most interesting character of all. Clearly a bit world weary at this stage of her detective career, Carlsen treats everyone fairly but she’s no idiot, either. She knows the statistics, she also knows how far people will go to protect themselves. She projects reason and a level-headedness that is disarming, especially since she represents the State and not the family’s best interests.
“Life presents choices and choices lead to consequences,” Chris recalls his grandmother’s words of wisdom. But can there be such a thing as choice for Black people in a world of prejudice? As Chris and Alexandra make some questionable choices to extricate themselves from this situation, The Knife asks us to wonder if they ever truly had a choice at all. Are the things they do and say a logical reaction to a situation rigged against them? At just 79 minutes in length, the film poses a lot of big questions it simply doesn’t have the time to explore fully. Some plot threads are abandoned, others are too thinly drawn, for the film to be as effective as it could be.
That said, the performances are solid all around. Asomugha has been doing good work ever since his breakout role in Crown Heights, and I like how he fits alongside King. Alexandra proves the more assertive parent, aggressively acting to uphold their dream of living in the perfect home to raise the kids. Aiden and Amari Price also show maturity beyond their years, hitting on some of the movie’s most emotional moments as the siblings endure the withering pressure of Carlsen’s questions.
Asomugh’s straight-forward direction doesn’t leave much room for mystery, but it allows for The Knife to be a scary, even heartbreaking, reminder of how the world works for far too many.
The Knife is open in theaters now.
