Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie

As the title suggests, Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie is a documentary examining the stabbing of Salman Rushdie in 2022, based on Rushdie’s book recounting the attack, Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder.

The bulk of the film’s footage consists of thorough documentation of Rushdie’s state after the attack, meticulously recorded by his wife, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, exploring the couple’s complex emotional states in the wake of the stabbing and chronicling the long path to recovery (physically and mentally). It’s intimate, often excruciatingly so, sparing the audience very little to convey the grim consequences of the assault – an assault on a man, yes, but also on the idea of free expression. There’s a tremendous amount of vulnerability on show from Rachel and Salman, but that openness represents a similarly great level of emotional strength and an unflinching commitment to important ideals, ideals that the documentary encourages its audience to consider.

Rachel’s recordings are supplemented with archival footage that contextualises the incident, including news reports from the publication of Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Verses in 1988 and the fatwa issued against him by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as a result of the novel. The documentary explores the furore around Rushdie and his writings along several axes, painting a comprehensive yet concise picture of the volatile, shifting socio-political landscape that enveloped – and continues to envelop – the writer.

The documentary also features excerpts from Meditations After an Attempted Murder, visualised with a distinctive, scratchy animation style that contrasts effectively against all the archival footage, capturing Rushdie’s musings on the stabbing in a way that complements the hard facts conveyed by the news reports and interviews.

Overall, Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie is a fascinating and uncompromising look at both a single event and the circumstances that led to it, but at its core it is a picture about much more than that – it is a testament to the fundamental human ideals of love and unity, as well as the importance of freedom of speech and the power of storytelling.

It’s often a tough watch, and director Alex Gibney and cinematographer Rachel Eliza Griffiths represent the attack and its fallout in uncompromising, grisly detail, but to do any less would be a disservice to the powerful people and convictions at the heart of the piece. The feature refuses to look away from reality, and invites its audience to do the same.

Umar Ali

Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie is released in select cinemas on 30^th September 2026.

Watch the trailer for Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie here: