Knuckledust is a 2020 British action-thriller film written and directed by James Kermack. Filmed in the United Kingdom, the film stars Moe Dunford, Kate Dickie, Camille Rowe, Phil Davis, Alex Ferns, Olivier Richters, Jaime Winstone, Gethin Anthony, and Sébastien Foucan. It was released in the United States and Canada on VOD by Samuel Goldwyn Films on December 8, 2020, and in the United Kingdom on December 11, where it was met with mixed reviews from critics.

Knuckledust
Promotional poster
Directed byJames Kermack
Written byJames Kermack
Produced by
  • Julien Loeffler
  • James Kermack
  • Fabrice Smadja
  • Daniel Goroshko
  • Genny Goudard
  • Rodolphe Sanze
  • Laurent Fumeron
Starring
CinematographyPat Aldinger
Edited by
  • Chris Gill
  • Natasha Wilkinson
Music byWalter Mair
Production
companies
  • Featuristic Films
  • The Project
  • Head Gear Films
  • Metrol Technology
  • OneWorld Entertainment
  • Onsight
  • Trigger Films
  • IIW Studio
  • Attention O Chiens
Distributed bySamuel Goldwyn Films
Release dates
  • December 8, 2020 (2020-12-08) (United States and Canada)[1]
  • December 11, 2020 (2020-12-11) (United Kingdom)[2]
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Premise

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In Knuckledust, police discover an elite fight club where they find seven underground levels, filled with the dead bodies of fighters from around the world. Only one man is found left alive. The task force has to work out if he is a mass murderer or the lone survivor.[3]

Cast

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Production

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Principal photography for Knuckledust began on October 28, 2019.[4] After filming in multiple countries in Europe, filming concluded on December 3, 2019, in the United Kingdom.[5][6] On November 2, 2020, Samuel Goldwyn Films announced that they would distribute the film.[3] In an interview, actress Kate Dickie revealed that she joined the film after reading its script.[2]

Reception

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On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Knuckledust holds an approval rating of 57% based on seven reviews, with an average rating of 5.6/10.[7] From The Guardian, Leslie Felperin gave the film a star rating of two stars out of five, writing that the film's "cinematography seems designed to distract from the shabbiness of the sets, while the muffled dialogue and too-loud backing tracks make it nigh on impossible to work out what the hell is going on".[8]

References

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  1. ^ Mack, Andrew (November 20, 2020). "Knuckledust Trailer: Throwing Everything Into The Action Thriller Genre". Screen Anarchy. Archived from the original on January 1, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Pape, Stefan (December 10, 2020). "Kate Dickie on brutal drama Knuckledust and her time working with Anya Taylor-Joy". HeyUGuys. Archived from the original on December 19, 2020. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  3. ^ a b D'Alessandro, Anthony (November 2, 2020). "Samuel Goldwyn Picks Up Action Thriller Knuckledust". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on November 2, 2020.
  4. ^ @knuckledustmovie (October 28, 2020). "A year ago the journey began. Day One of principal photography on our action/thriller Knuckledust 28/10/19". Retrieved November 2, 2020 – via Instagram.
  5. ^ Grater, Tom; Wiseman, Andreas (November 9, 2019). "Knuckledust: First Look At Moe Dunford & Kate Dickie In Thriller – AFM". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on November 2, 2020. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  6. ^ "Knuckledust by James Kermack: 'IT'S A WRAP!'". Facebook. December 3, 2019. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  7. ^ "Knuckledust". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
  8. ^ Felperin, Leslie (December 10, 2020). "Knuckledust review – (you're) welcome to the terrordome". The Guardian. Archived from the original on January 1, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
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