Movie Review: 'It's a Wonderful Knife'

It's a Wonderful Knife (2023)

Directed by Tyler McIntyre

Written by Michael Kennedy

Starring Jane Widdop, Jess McLeod, Joel McHale, Justin Long, Katherine Isabelle

Release Date November 10th, 2023

Published December 5th, 2023

Have you ever seen a movie character, most often a side character, whom you adopt as your own? This happened to me as I watched the new holiday horror movie, It's A Wonderful Knife. The introduction of the character Bernie, played by Jess McLeod, won me over immediately. The adorable, shy, sad, outcast that McLeod plays is called Weirdo by everyone she meets but her actual name is Bernie and she's wonderful. My mantras became, as It's a Wonderful Knife played out, became "Protect Bernie at All Cost" and "If Bernie Dies, the Movie is Over." McLeod is just that good at being lovely, sweet, and sympathetic. My heart rose and fell with Bernie.

That's not to take anything away from the star of It's a Wonderful Knife, Jane Widdop's Winnie, she's also terrific. It's just that I identified far more with Bernie's struggle than anyone else's. Outcasts stick together. Once you have seen It's a Wonderful Knife you can begin to understand why my adopting Bernie as my favorite character made the movie a rollercoaster of jump scares and cathartic surprises as Bernie's role grows in the 3rd act in the most unexpected and wonderful ways. Ways that actually use her as a way to honor the beloved holiday classic that lends its premise to this holiday horror flick.

It's a Wonderful Knife stars Jane Widdop as Winnie, a teenager from a happy family with a great brother, Jimmy (Aiden Howard) and two loving parents, David (Joel McHale) and Judy (Erin Boyes). It's Christmas Eve and the family is supposed to be together but David is called to go to work. His boss, Henry Waters (Justin Long), is the richest man in town and feels no guilt about separating David from his family on Christmas, especially when a shady deal needs to get done. Henry needs to demolish one historic home to get his massive mall project up and running and he needs David to help lean on the elderly homeowner, something David doesn't want to do.

That same night, Winnie decides to attend a party with her boyfriend Pete and her best friend, Cara (Hana Huggins). It's a fateful choice as a serial murderer is suddenly on the loose. He's dressed all in white and he's murdered the old man whose house was coveted by Henry Waters. The killer then targets Cara who happens to be the granddaughter of the old man. Cara was to inherit the house that Waters wants and so she ends up brutally stabbed to death along with her boyfriend. Winnie's brother, Jimmy is nearly killed after confronting the killer and keeping him from killing Winnie. Jimmy survives because Winnie uses jumper cables to murder the serial killer.

No surprise, the killer is Henry Waters and he committed these murders with the intent of stealing Cara's family home. Winnie stopped him and she wakes up on Christmas morning to a strange new world. It's as if a curse has lifted but also that a new curse has taken its place. It's one year since Winnie killed Henry Waters and she seems to be the only one who remembers it. Her family, especially her dad, has turned into the new Henry Waters, a businessman eager to make as much money as possible. He's become neglectful of Winnie while he showers his golden boy son with attention and gifts.

Troubled by this supposed new normal, Winnie ponders her fate while standing on a dock and looking up at the Aurora Borealis, brilliant lights in the sky not often viewable in Winnie's part of the world. It's here where Winnie makes a fateful wish, the wish to have never been born. As goes in the movies, be careful what you wish for. Winnie's wish comes true immediately and she finds herself in a dystopian version of her hometown. In this version, the Angel serial killer that she unmasked as Henry Waters, is still out there, still killing and claiming new victims that happen to coincide with Henry's business desires. Henry is now also the Mayor of the town, ruling everything with an iron fist and a big fake, spray-tan, and fake pearly white smile.

The plot kicks in when Winnie discovers that Jimmy was killed by the Angel Killer because she was not there to save him this time. Several other people whom Winnie cares about are also gone, killed by Waters. Only Winnie knows that he's the killer and with that knowledge, she's the only one who can stop him. But first, she's going to need some help. The only person willing to listen to her bizarre story about wishing to have never been born, is a girl from her high school that everyone simply calls Weirdo, though her actual name is Bernie. Desperate for a friend, Bernie chooses to listen to and believe Winnie's story. Bernie becomes the Clarence to Winnie's Jimmy Stewart only this time, instead of learning that she wants to live again, Winnie learns that she needs to kill again to get her life back.

What surprised me more than anything about It's a Wonderful Knife is how the film doesn't dishonor the beloved classic from which it takes a premise and a punny title. In fact, the movie is quite kind about It's a Wonderful Life and not exploiting it for cheap nostalgia bait. There is a genuinely lovely moment when Winnie and Bernie are growing their new bond and Winnie asks Bernie to be her Clarence and Bernie gleefully agrees, never having had a friend before, let alone someone she would consider the Jimmy Stewart to her Clarence. I love that!

It's a Wonderful Knife features a pair of terrific supporting turns from Joel McHale and Justin Long. These veteran comic actors are the perfect foils for the rising stars of Jane Widdop and Jess McLeod. McHale has quite a struggle as his character undergoes the biggest twists and turns of the plot. He seems to have to discover the tone of a scene as it happens and it's a credit to McHale that he makes it work. Long meanwhile, has perhaps the easiest and most fun performance in the movie. He's called upon to be over the top smarmy and Long clearly relishes the chance to be such an obvious, straightforward villain.

There is something to be said for having low expectations. I went into It's a Wonderful Knife assuming that it would be a gross denigration of a beloved holiday classic. What I got instead was a deft, funny, scary movie populated by wonderful actors. I also had the wonderful surprise of a horror take on a classic premise that isn't completely disrespectful to the classic it is taking from.

Obviously, It's a Wonderful Knife and It's a Wonderful Life don't have much in common, this is still a bloody slasher movie. That said, I came away with the sense that the people who made It's a Wonderful Knife actually like and respect the movie they are using as their inspiration and I appreciated that. It allowed me to enjoy It's a Wonderful Knife rather than dread a movie that simply treaded upon a movie a lot of people hold dear.

It's a Wonderful Knife is available on Shudder to stream immediately. The film was also a subject on the most recent episode of the I Hate Critics Movie Review Podcast. Myself and my co-host Jeff Lassiter shared our positive takes on this movie along with Saltburn and an unusual appreciation for Dream Scenario where we don't recommend the movie but we do appreciate how genuinely effective the movie is. You can find the I Hate Critics Movie Review Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.

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