‘Knock Knock’ Review: Eli Roth Goes Psychological Instead of Gore with Mixed Results

I didn’t expect “Knock Knock” from Director Eli Roth, who brought us such gore-fests as “Hostel” and “The Green Inferno.” But at the same time it doesn’t surprise me. It’s a film of excess, surely, just not of physical torture and murder. It features Keanu Reeves playing against type as a cheating, pathetic husband, even more shocking that it happened a year after his first “John Wick.” Likewise, the film’s ‘villains,’ played by Lorenza Izzo (“The Green Inferno”) and Ana de Armas, were also a red herrings. Izzo was likable in Roth’s previous venture and I’d only seen de Armas in fun or lovable roles prior to this. Roth stated in an interview he wanted to set up a film of psychological torture, and in this he excels. However I question whether his more visceral points (infidelity, sex, love, etc.) get lost in the insane fever dream that follows.

As in “Hostel,” however, Roth takes his time setting up his events. He even shows us some manner of martial strife (just run-of-the-mill stuff like sexual longing and partners who work too much) in the film’s opening. We meet Evan (Reeves) and his wife Karen (Ignacia Allamand) as they begin making love. However, Evan’s recent shoulder surgery (we see a scar) kind of derails the moment. It’s Father’s Day, and his two kids (played by real-life siblings Dan Baily and Megan Baily) bring him cake and a nice, homemade clock with their pictures all over it, the latter of which will come into play in a sinister way in the film’s third act. They’re planning a trip to the beach for the weekend without dad, who has to work (he’s an architect). Meanwhile his wife’s work colleague, Louis (Aaron Burns) plans to come pick up a sculpture she’s made the following day. Louis jokes he’s brining over liquor for Evan to have a ‘not so secret party,’ which comes into play in a darkly-satirical way by the end of the film. 

When the Cat’s Away…

The set-up for the film is simple. While working late that night during a rainstorm, Evan hears a knock on his door. He opens it to two beautiful but soaked young women, Genesis and Bel (Izzo and de Armas). They claim to be lost on their way to a party and ask to use his computer to Facebook their friends for the address. Evan of course acquiesces. The film doesn’t come out and say if things were meant to escalate the way they do, or if Evan was just being a nice guy. For the next twenty minutes, he chats with the pair as they wait for an Uber to show up. He’s 43 and has been married for 14 years. Meanwhile the girls are candid about sex and lust and being free and open with their bodies. Evan talks about his wife and kids as a feeble protest. We all know where this is going. And when the two make their move on him, completing their seduction, the following scene is believable — for a moment — before Roth mixes up all the elements in the blender. 

Evan’s worst fear — unsurprisingly — is his threesome and “mistake” from the previous night being found out. It’s first relief when he wakes up and the girls are gone, and then horror when he enters the kitchen to find out they are not. They’re making him “breakfast,” which entails destroying the kitchen and much of the house in the process. Genesis is more domineering while Bel seems to go along with whatever happens with a doe-eyed innocence. It’s clear the two are not going to leave. They intend to make Even pay for his mistake with whatever leverage they have. He threatens to call the cops and the two drop their first of many psychological mind games. They claim to be 15 and would love to tell the cops what an utter pedophile he is. 

Izzo and de Armas Mix Sex with Danger

“Knock Knock” is a mixed bag. The first 30+ minutes are sexy and dangerous, and de Armas and Izzo are excellent in their roles. A lazier film would have had them draped over each other, seductive and inviting. However, here most of their allure comes from the subtextual way they speak to Evan about sex and the way they come on to him. Reeves struggles a bit with the material — more so as the movie progresses — and I think it’s a writing issue more than any fault of his own. Evan just isn’t fleshed out well — or at all. I wonder if that was Roth’s intention. He’s supposed to be a stand-in for any married guy tempted with guiltless sex from two beauties, and his backstory isn’t important. But while understandable, this plot decision harms the film. Evan — especially in later scenes — comes off as little more than a caricature. 

The other problem with the film is it just isn’t believable in the strictest sense. It also borrows some of its more thrilling bits from films like “The Strangers.” Bel and Genesis psychologically torture Evan, keep him captive, destroy his house, all while threatening him with the strictest punishments society will heap on him for “being a pedophile.” Meanwhile it’s clear the two are toying with him. And it’s also clear that a cop would take one look at the situation and side with him. But Evan’s desire to keep the situation under wraps — and hope that if he just says and does the right thing the two will go away — keeps the film running.

A Film that Goes Off the Rails

It’s here also we see that Genesis and Bel are thinly-parsed themselves. Genesis seems to have an angry agenda and Bel, I was sure, had been a victim of child abuse herself. But they two don’t come across as really that genuine. We don’t know who they really are or what they want. Evan isn’t their first. But do they really want revenge on all the cheating men out there or are they just having fun? And Roth doesn’t really want to give us an answer. 

“Knock Knock” isn’t a bad film, it just isn’t a great one either. Roth is clearly in his element — horror — even if this time it’s psychological rather than gore. The film escalates almost without limit. Though I do give Roth credit for the bait-and-switch he pulls at the end, as I did honestly think it was going where Genesis and Bel claimed it was. The film’s last scene is perfect, while some others are head-scratching or legitimately insane.

An Imperfect but Passable Thriller

Yet for most of the run-time, “Knock Knock” lives in the land of disbelief for so long it’s hard to swallow. It watches well and easily. However, it shies away from making the points about infidelity and trust it could have with less off-the-rails plotting and more tension. Reeves struggles to keep up, reduced to a begging, pathetic man by the end, while Izzo and de Armas play off his desperation well. Roth set out to make a film of excess — as he always does — and in that he succeeds. The film could have had a better impact with more restraint, but is still a passable thriller despite its insanity.