- Title: Knock Knock
- IMDb: link
2015’s Knock Knock fits into the subgenre of male fantasy gone wrong having some similarities to 2006’s Hard Candy. The set-up, which could only occur on film, involves an architect (Keanu Reeves) being visited by two beautiful stranded bisexual nymphomaniacs (Ana de Armas and Lorenza Izzo) on the rainy night his wife (Ignacia Allamand) and children (Dan Baily and Megan Baily) have left for warmer climates. It’s not long before the the two young woman lose their clothing and begin making increasingly obvious advances to their host.
The first half-hour sets the scene with the pair working a little too hard to seduce the family man, while stealing glances letting us know more is a foot which becomes suddenly evident to Evan the morning after when the pair announce they have no plans on leaving and the mind games take darker and darker (and more ridiculous) turns.
The film is really only notable because of Ana de Armas’ rise and the early sex scene between the three stars. Both she and Izzo are able to make the jump from flirty and seductive to cruel and manipulative even if the reason for their characters’ odd hobby, or how they chose Evan, isn’t ever satisfactorily explained. Reeves, cast against type, plays the victim who is left pleading for his life by the time the credits roll without ever getting a handle on the bizarre situation he let into his home and watched spiral further and further out of control.
Nothing about the plot of the film rings true making it hard to invest in the events that unfold. Directed by Eli Roth, who is also credited as one of the three screenwriters for the film, Knock Knock devolves fairly quickly after the first half hour as the two unstable women (who may or may not be of legal age depending which of their stories you believe) torture their host, commit violence, mayhem, and even murder all under the guise of playing a game and teaching their host a lesson. While the film ends with the women victorious, doing all they can to burn his family to the ground for kicks, there is an alternate ending to Knock Knock that harkens back to the title suggesting Evan might get some measure of revenge.
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