‘It’s a Wonderful Knife’ Is Not Wonderful, But That’s OK

By Seth Freilich | Film | November 13, 2023 |

By Seth Freilich | Film | November 13, 2023 |

One of the most well-established thriller and horror movie tropes — from Psycho to Halloween to Scream — is that of the final girl. In its simplest form, it’s the arc of the woman who is typically our point of view character and who survives the film after defeating the villain, walking away with little more than a heaping pile of trauma as her thanks. More recently, we have seen that trope unpacked and played with, from Descent to Cabin in the Woods to Drag Me to Hell.

But what if there is no final girl?

It’s a Wonderful Knife opens like a horror film on speed. Within the first fifteen minutes, we meet Winnie (Jane Widdop), her family and friends, and some other townsfolk. We also meet the Angel, a masked and costumed killer, and see him go on about a five-person killing spree. And we seem him meet his end-of-the-movie demise courtesy of our final girl Winnie. None of this is a spoiler because it’s all prequel (in fact, we don’t get our title card until right after Winnie pulls off the Angel’s mask, revealing exactly who every audience member expects, which is the point - it’s even in the trailer). Cut to a year later, and Winnie is having a positively miserable time of it, not so much because of final girl PTSD, but because life is sometimes a beating.

At the end of a miserable day, we find Winnie on a pier, depressed and speculating that everyone would be better off if she had never been born. With that, It’s a Wonderful Life Knife is off and running, and now we turn to that question of what if there’s no final girl. It turns out, as you’d probably guess, things in town aren’t great. The Angel has continued murdering, though the killing pace has slowed to a kill or two every few weeks. Winnie’s brother, whom she originally saved, is gone, tearing her family apart. Of course, neither that family nor anyone else knows who the hell Winnie is because she was never born. The movie follows some expected beats from here, but it hits them all quickly with a runtime that doesn’t overstay its welcome.

That’s a credit to Michael Kennedy’s screenplay and director Tyler MacIntyre’s choices. But this is ultimately the kind of film that lives and dies with its cast, particularly as poor acting choices can easily weigh it down. However, everyone seems to know exactly what kind of movie they are in, and they run with it. The biggest name in the film, Joel McHale, leans into his nice guy/mean guy skills here to play both versions of Winnie’s dad. While I would’ve liked to see him get a chance to be funnier (a comment applicable to the film), the only negative thing I can say about his performance is that it’s not as good as Justin Long’s. Because Long absolutely steals the film. On the heels of last year’s Barbarian, he is having a blast swimming in the horror pool, here, complete with an orange spray tan and the kind of preposterous overbite that scares children.

Jane Widdop (“Yellowjackets”), tasked with being the main focus as Winnie, is a mixed bag. There is nothing wrong with her performance; again, she does not take any of the missteps that an actor could easily make in this kind of role in this kind of movie. But there is also not a lot that shines here. She is at her best when paired up with Jess McLeod (“One Of Us Is Lying”) as her weird friend Bernie, as the two have a nice energy. But Widdop is otherwise fine, and, to be clear, that’s not a bad thing. There is nothing wrong with a perfectly fine performance.

That applies to the film as a whole, as it’s neither as funny nor as horror-y as one might hope. So less Happy Death Day and more elevated B-fare (complete with going a little off the rails at the climax by making a weird turn that is right on the line of “does this work or not?”). It’s a Wonderful Knife isn’t bad; it’s a fine movie. It’s unfortunately not the kind of film that begs to be seen in the theater with a raucous audience. It’s the type of movie you throw on during a random Saturday night when you’re sipping on a cocktail and looking for a low-key movie to veg out to. And that’s perfectly OK; the world needs those kinds of movies too!