Blu-Ray Review – Knock Knock
2 min read
Knock Knock, directed by Eli Roth, is a sexual thriller about a husband left alone over the weekend who gives into temptation when two young women turn up at his house in need of help.
A remake of the 1977 thriller Death Game, Knock Knock stars Keanu Reeves as the unsuspecting husband Evan Webber. When Evan’s family go away for the weekend and he has to stay behind to work, two young women knock on his door claiming to be lost and looking for help. Genesis (Lorenza Izzo) and Bel (Ana de Armas) tempt Evan into a threesome and in the morning, Evan discovers the two in the kitchen making a huge mess. Desperate to get them out of the house, he tries to round them up, only to be drawn into whatever game the two are playing. When he finally gets them to leave, Evan cleans the house and tries to get back to his life, but late that night he is visited by Genesis and Bel again. Only this time, they aren’t leaving.
Knock Knock in short, is a terrible movie. If this is what a thriller is, someone needs to rethink the definition. There were moments where I thought the action would accelerate, or reach a climax, but every time this happened, it would fizzle into nothing. There were some truly disturbing moments designed to make you feel ill, but there were too many moments that didn’t quite reach this intensity. There is a complete lack of storyline that generally leaves you grasping at straws to find something to enjoy about Knock Knock.
But it’s not just the script, it’s the performance. It’s impossible to tell the difference between Keanu Reeves as a dad, and Keanu Reeves in distress. There was a lack of sincerity to his performance that left the entire film feeling ridiculous. In saying that, the two psychopathic women, Genesis and Bel, were a little more convincing. But along side Reeves, who can’t seem to change the tone of his voice, it was difficult to focus on their truly disturbed behaviour. Their childish and sadistic double act is the only good thing going for Knock Knock.
Knock Knock is more of a fizzler than a thriller, with a complete lack of storyline and a inadequete performance by Reeves. Izzo and de Armas’ on screen chemistry and performance is the only redeeming part of film. In saying that, it would have been nice to hear more about how they got to the point where they stalk men and wreak havoc in their lives. Knock Knock tries to be a classic home-invasion thriller, but it completely misses every single thrill.
