Reviewed by Fred Topel
Eli Roth’s latest movie is his most F’ed up and his least violent, thus proving the talent was not simply for outdoing the gore. There is a masterful skill at manipulating the audience, but in a way that we trust the filmmaker to take us on that ride, and it’s not a not a one trick formula. With Knock Knock, Roth proves he can apply this skill to any genre.
Loving family man Evan (Keanu Reeves), sends his wife and kids off the beach while he stays home to work. When two lost girls, Genesis (Lorenza Izzo) and Bel (Ana de Armas) knock on his door, he invites them in out of the rain and shows them hospitality while they wait 45 minutes for an Uber. By the end of the night, the girls seduce Evan, and that’s when things get really weird.
It’s not even really a fantasy gone wrong. I mean, it’s playing on the stereotypical male threesome fantasy, but I don’t fantasize about having a threesome. I fantasize about having one woman who’ll watch movies with me. I can relate to Evan’s temptation though because I do like to make friends. What if I let the wrong girls into my house? We have to be really vigilant as a society to stick to our values. People will try to corrupt us all around, and I’ve been pressured into making bad decisions nonsexually so I’m not going to judge someone for succumbing to a very strange, unexpected situation.
Evan is punished in a taboo thriller that will put Fifty Shades of Grey to shame. It reminded me of the glorious erotic thriller genre, but with a real edge that none of the ‘90s movies could touch, not even Basic Instinct. Knock Knock is dealing with a sexual manipulation deadlier than physical violence, but when it does turn violent, the tools of the violence have been so well established that it feels more brutal than Hostel.
Reeves is great with the kids, which adds to our disappointment when he violates his family’s trust, but also our sympathies when he gets in so deep. There’s also something special about watching one of cinema’s greatest action heroes (yeah, I said it) become the helpless victim. Izzo and de Armas are terrifying. They are so volatile, their unpredictable personalities are even scarier than the tortures they commit.
I don’t want to spoil any of Knock Knock this early. Audiences should be able to watch it unfold the way I did knowing very little about it except that it’s Keanu Reeves, two women and directed by Eli Roth. That should be enough to get anyone in the door and I can vouch for the film and filmmakers. They went there.
