[FrightFest 2025] FILM REVIEW: Above the Knee

Above the Knee - FrightFest UK Premiere Review

Director: Viljar Bøe

Starring: Freddy Singh, Julie Abrahamsen, Viggo Solomon, Louise Waage Anda

Written by: Viljar Bøe, Freddy Singh

Produced by: Karl Oskar Åsli, Marie Waade Grønning

Cinematography by: Viljar Bøe

Original Score by: Marc Hayward

Synopsis:

Amir has a secret. He's tormented by visions of his leg rotting and longs to cut it off, convinced it doesn't belong to him. So, he devises a plan.

Thoughts:

From the Writer/Director of 'Good Boy' (not the new film about a loyal pupper helping to protect its human from supernatural forces but the festival favourite from 2022) comes a very poignant, dark drama about a man who is desperately struggling to live in his own skin. This is very much a character study about an incredibly real and taboo subject and it's explored with a deep respect.

Freddy Singh plays Amir. Good job and living happily with his partner Kim. But Amir harbors a dark secret from the world. His left leg is rotting, turning blacker every day and it is consuming him. Except, his leg isn't rotting, it's a visual that we see through Amir's eyes. His leg is actually fine but Amir suffers from a rare condition known as BID (Body Integrity Disorder), which leaves the person wanting to either relieve their body of one of their limbs or their senses. Essentially making them disabled. This isn't a film about meaningless self harm or self mutilation, although much of the runtime centres on Amir's desire to do so. It's also not a film about any sort of mental disorder. This is so much more deeper than that.

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Viljar Bøe teases the mutilation right from the opening scene as Amir slugs from a bottle of vodka then reaches for a saw and hovers it over his left leg. And we also get flashing images sporadically throughout the film of a mysterious mountain and blood dripping over a large rock. The film then begins a day to day count down until "The Accident" as we get introduced to Amir and his situation.

Feeling stuck and unable to communicate his concerns and desires, Amir is slowly becoming a shell of himself with his social discomfort growing. And then he watches a local news documentary which features a woman named Rikke who wishes she was blind. Rikke wears blacked out sunglasses and behaves as if she cannot see. Amir tracks her down and pretends to be a journalist in a bid to educate himself from her perspective. It's just a first step at helping him understand that he isn't the only person who suffers with this unusual condition. Amir's relationship with Rikke leads to an uncomfortably decisive moment in Amir's life, one that might cause him to lose everything.

I don't think I was aware of body integrity disorder and Bøe really does treat it with an empathy I wasn't expecting. Freddy Singh's performance as Amir is restrained and subtle, almost too subtle, but it's a testament to the understanding of Amir's obvious anxiety that has completely engulfed his entire life now. Through his conversations with Rikke, we get a deeper and more enhanced perspective. The people that suffer from this are human beings just trying to live their best life but feel like they can't be themselves. There's a comment from Kim on the idea that someone who would want to be disabled is disrespecting anyone who is actually disabled and I think that's what most people's viewpoint would be. But who has any right to tell people what is "normal" in their request for happiness. This is a theme Bøe explores. This condition is not treated like a mental condition but rather like someone who feels uncomfortable in their own body, like a trans person for example.

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From a technical stand point, the film is really well directed. There are lots of close ups of Amir, who is often alone, and clearly this is a way for us to feel some sort of connection to him. It's very important that we understand and empathize with his struggle. I think both Bøe and Singh achieve this through the camera work and the performance, which is often a little robotic, uncanny perhaps. Like his body is never really there.

'Above the Knee' is actually a really heartbreaking film but don't go into it expecting lots of blood and gore or scares. It's not that type of film but it is harrowing nonetheless. It's got a very slow pace, almost plodding. And it's less than 80 minutes long so it definitely feels more like an incredible idea for a short film but I think Viljar Bøe does just enough to keep the viewer intrigued throughout.

Verdict: ⭐️⭐️⭐️½

-Gavin Logan

'Above the Knee' received its UK Premiere at FrightFest '25 on August 25th