The Knife is a coming-of-age story about Thomas, a thirteen-year-old boy who has a contentious relationship with his mother and starts to have conflicting feelings about his female friend, Toni.
Since his father's death, his mother has begun a relationship with Oscar, his dad's best friend.
After this incident, the mother tells Thomas he will be sent to boarding school at the end of the summer.
Thomas spends the remainder of his summer days with Toni, visiting the fair and a territory owned by young people called De Valken.
No longer wanting to live in the house, Thomas runs away and spends the night in a barn.
Fons Rademakers commissioned producer Joop Landré to make an adaptation of Hugo Claus's novella, thinking "it was very poetic".
A reviewer from Het Vrije Volk wrote, "The Knife is without a doubt the best film that has ever left our studios".