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Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie

Play trailer 1:51 Poster for Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie Sep 2026 1h 47m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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97% Tomatometer 32 Reviews Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie is inspired by Rushdie's memoir "Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder." The film explores Rushdie's recovery in the broadest sense. Through Rushdie's wife Rachel Eliza Griffiths' personal footage, which has never been seen by the public, the doc follows the writer during his physical recovery as well as the recovery of his spirit and hope for the future.

Critics Reviews

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Wendy Ide Observer (UK) 9 hrs ago
The unshowy, workmanlike direction from Alex Gibney quite rightly allows his subject’s voice to take centre stage. Go to Full Review Peter Bradshaw Guardian 4 days ago
4/5
What emerges is Rushdie’s courage and his remarkably level-headed, calm and unafraid writerly voice insisting on the primacy of literature, freedom of expression and the life of the imagination. Go to Full Review Tim Robey Daily Telegraph (UK) 5 days ago
4/5
Gibney’s production company has put it all together but, rightly, Rushdie feels like the primary author of what is a defiantly angry retelling, along with his (fifth) wife, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, who filmed a record of his recovery over weeks and months. Go to Full Review Nick Hasted The Arts Desk 8 hrs ago
3/5
This access’s price is the sentimental exchanges of a relatively new married couple, which it’s hard to imagine Rushdie making public previously. Go to Full Review Hilary A White Irish Independent 2 days ago
4/5
The effect is incredibly compelling in places, a strange mixture of tragic and triumphant that is impossible to look away from, even at its most grisly. Go to Full Review Jared Mobarak Hey, Have You Seen ...? 3 days ago
7/10
This is neither a biography nor a blow-by-blow account of the inciting event. It’s a companion piece to a book written as a means to contextualize those things together and find the purpose and hope to keep moving forward. Go to Full Review Read all reviews
Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie

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Cast & Crew

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Alex Gibney

Director

Salman Rushdie

Self

Rachel Eliza Griffiths

Self

Salman Rushdie

Writer

Alex Gibney

Producer

Erin Edeiken

Producer
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Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie

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Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie

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Movie Info

Synopsis Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie is inspired by Rushdie's memoir "Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder." The film explores Rushdie's recovery in the broadest sense. Through Rushdie's wife Rachel Eliza Griffiths' personal footage, which has never been seen by the public, the doc follows the writer during his physical recovery as well as the recovery of his spirit and hope for the future.
Director
Alex Gibney
Producer
Alex Gibney, Erin Edeiken, Sruthi Pinnamaneni
Screenwriter
Salman Rushdie
Distributor
Abramorama
Production Co
Jigsaw Productions
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 17, 2026, Limited
Runtime
1h 47m
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