In The Knife, director Nnamdi Asomugha crafts a gripping, claustrophobic thriller about Chris (Asomugha) and Alex (Aja Naomi King), a young Black couple whose lives are upended when a mysterious stranger invades their home one fateful night. As the family grapples with the intruder’s unsettling presence, long-buried tensions rise to the surface, forcing them to confront the consequences of past choices—both big and small. Meanwhile, Detective Carlsen (Melissa Leo), a hardened investigator with her own demons, races against time to uncover the truth before the night spirals into irreversible tragedy.

Shot in real-time with Hitchcockian precision, The Knife blends home-invasion terror with searing social commentary, exploring themes of systemic distrust, parental protectiveness, and the fragility of safety. The film’s taut script and powerhouse performances make every whispered argument and panicked decision feel agonizingly real, building toward a shocking climax that challenges who the real threat is—the stranger, the system, or the family itself.

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Meet the Cast

1: Nnamdi Asomugha as Chris

Nnamdi Asomugha (Crown Heights, Sylvie’s Love) delivers a career-defining performance as Chris, a loving but flawed father forced into an impossible moral dilemma. A former athlete turned corporate lawyer, Chris prides himself on keeping his family safe—until the invasion exposes his powerlessness. Asomugha’s portrayal masterfully balances quiet intensity and raw vulnerability, particularly in a heart-stopping scene where Chris must choose between protecting his daughters and confronting his own past mistakes.

The actor’s physicality—honed from his NFL career—adds visceral weight to Chris’s desperate attempts to regain control. A late-film monologue, where Chris confesses a long-hidden secret to Detective Carlsen, showcases Asomugha’s ability to convey lifetimes of regret in a single glance.

2: Aja Naomi King as Alex

Aja Naomi King (How to Get Away with Murder, The Birth of a Nation) is electrifying as Alex, Chris’s wife and a pediatrician whose instincts as a healer clash with her rage as a mother. King portrays Alex’s transformation from composed professional to feral protector with terrifying authenticity, especially in a kitchen confrontation where she wields the film’s titular knife with shaking hands. Her chemistry with Asomugha oscillates between tender unity and fractured trust, mirroring the couple’s crumbling sense of security.

A haunting flashback reveals Alex’s own childhood trauma, adding layers to her paralyzing fear of failure as a parent. King’s most devastating moment comes when she whispers an apology to her daughters through a locked door—a scene that lingers long after the credits roll.

3: Melissa Leo as Detective Carlsen

Melissa Leo (The Fighter, Prisoners) commands the screen as Detective Carlsen, a world-weary investigator whose jaded exterior hides gnawing guilt over an unsolved case. Leo’s Carlsen moves with the methodical exhaustion of someone who’s seen too much, her interrogation scenes crackling with unspoken tension. The actress finds unexpected nuance in the role, particularly when Carlsen’s white savior complex collides with the family’s distrust of police.

Her subplot—a parallel investigation into the intruder’s possible connection to a cold-case disappearance—adds chilling depth to the narrative. Leo’s finest moment comes in a squad-car breakdown where she screams at a phantom, revealing the human cost of her obsession with closure.

4: Manny Jacinto as Officer Padilla

Manny Jacinto (The Good Place, Top Gun: Maverick) brings quiet moral conflict to Officer Padilla, a rookie cop torn between protocol and empathy. Jacinto’s performance shines in subtle gestures—a hesitation before drawing his gun, a glance exchanged with Alex—that speak volumes about systemic bias in policing. His character’s arc culminates in a breathless standoff where Padilla must choose between his badge and his conscience.

The actor’s background in dance informs Padilla’s edgy physicality, making his nervous energy palpable during the home’s tense search sequence.

5: Amari Price as Kendra

Amari Price (Black-ish, Colin in Black & White) is a revelation as Kendra, the family’s sharp-tongued 14-year-old who masks fear with sarcasm. Price’s performance captures adolescent bravado crumbling into childlike terror, especially in a harrowing closet hideaway scene where she comforts her sister through stifled sobs.

Her character’s secret knowledge about the intruder drives the third-act twist, with Price delivering the reveal with gut-punch subtlety.

6: Aiden Price as Ryley

Aiden Price (Them, Wendell & Wild) breaks hearts as Ryley, the family’s wide-eyed 8-year-old whose innocence magnifies the horror. The young actress’s naturalistic performance—particularly her unscripted trembling during the break-in—adds unbearable tension.

A fleeting moment where Ryley mistakes the intruder for her uncle becomes one of the film’s most chilling beats, showcasing Price’s ability to flip between trust and terror.

7: Lucinda Jenney as Mary

Lucinda Jenney (The Fisher King, Rain Man) unsettles as Mary, the family’s nosy white neighbor whose “concern” drips with microaggressions. Jenney’s saccharine smile barely conceals her character’s racialized suspicion, making every line land like a poisoned dart.

Her 911 call—where she emphasizes the family’s Blackness to operators—is a masterclass in covert bigotry, holding a mirror to real-world policing biases.

8: Justin Dean & Shannon Corbeil as Cops

Justin Dean (Bosch) and Shannon Corbeil (SEAL Team) round out the cast as responding officers whose contrasting approaches highlight institutional dysfunction. Dean’s hyper-aggressive cop escalates every interaction, while Corbeil’s exhausted female officer tries (and fails) to de-escalate—a damning indictment of policing’s gender divide.

Their heated argument over probable cause becomes a microcosm of the film’s broader themes about who gets deemed “threatening” in America.