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Knock Knock (2015) is an erotic psychological thriller that follows happily married family man Evan (Keanu Reeves) as he somewhat reluctantly embarks on an unexpected sexual adventure with two unhinged young women, Bel (Ana de Armas) and Genesis (Lorenza Izzo). The next day, his fantasy becomes a nightmare when he realizes that the pair wanted not only to spend a raucous night in his bed—but also to subject him to their senseless brand of justice for his infidelity. Bel and Genesis pretend to have the moral high ground, however, their motivations for putting him on trial seem to have more to do with entertaining themselves than with righting a wrong. When it turns out that Evan is otherwise innocent, any justice that Bel and Genesis may have achieved is tarnished. It is precisely in this respect where the film would have been better but for a single change: make Evan guilty of a crime worse than theirs.
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The film does bring up a crime that Evan may have unknowingly committed—statutory rape—but ultimately does nothing with it. When he realizes that Bel and Genesis don’t want to leave and are intent upon vandalizing his home and torturing him, he begins to call the police. They convince him not to make the call by claiming that at least one of them is underage, scaring him into thinking the police would discover his crime upon their investigation. Their claim of being victims of rape is horrifying enough, especially for those familiar with the traumatic effects of sexual abuse; but what is more horrifying is that they are lying about it (they later admit they are adults), and it speaks to their depravity.
However, the film’s failure here is not only that Evan turns out to be innocent of statutory rape, but also that he is innocent of any wrongdoing other than adultery, which, incidentally, he is seduced into committing. This is the real reason for which Bel and Genesis’ so-called justice seems half-baked and frivolous. If, on the other hand, Evan were in fact a criminal, especially if he were a sex offender, their justice would have been far less senseless. However, the two women are simply insane—they are most likely sociopaths—and invade Evan’s home more for kicks than for justice.
Why Knock Knock Should Have Been More Like Hard Candy
It only takes a brief comparison with the film Hard Candy (2005) to realize how much better Knock Knock would have been had Evan actually turned out to be a criminal. In Hard Candy, Jeff’s (Patrick Wilson) guilt, unlike Evan’s, is nearly a foregone conclusion. The film does create a very slight plausibility that he may be innocent of being a pedophile, but this is not what makes it effective. The palpable tension that builds up in the film doesn’t come from the dubiousness of Jeff’s guilt; it comes from how hard he fights the inevitable, i.e., the death sentence that Hayley (Ellen Page) ultimately hands down to him. If Evan had even a fraction of Jeff’s traits, the film’s ending and its overall theme of justice and revenge would feel much more satisfying and far less senseless.
Like Hayley in Hard Candy, Bel and Genesis may well have been subject to some sort of abuse in their lives, and all three characters are admittedly insane. But it is only Hayley’s justice that rings true, regardless of how morally wrong her actions may be. Hayley’s crimes far outweigh those of Bel and Genesis, since she is ultimately responsible for Jeff’s death, but because she acts out of concern for Jeff’s past and future victims, she is redeemable. Hayley’s story is a reverse Little Red Riding Hood, in which the girl hunts the wolf; whereas Bel and Genesis are gorgeous, less deadly versions of Jason Voorhees, a monster that essentially punishes people who place their lust over their responsibilities.
Unfortunately, the complexity behind Bel and Genesis’ pursuit of justice is dropped almost as immediately as it is brought up, rendering them into something akin to serial killers. In terms of horror films that feature antagonists that are personifications of evil, like Michael Myers, Knock Knock definitely has merit, as it effectively pushes all the same buttons: it creates a sense of anxiety and dread caused by an unstoppable, external threat, which is ultimately the result of a bilateral lack of connection to humanity and society at large.
What Knock Knock Does Better Than The Original
Knock Knock is a remake of Death Game (1977), a film which it emulates almost note for note, including the senselessness of the invaders’ pursuit of justice. However, Knock Knock is by far the superior version, in particular because of how it ends. Both films imply that the home invaders—named Donna (Colleen Camp) and Jackson (Sondra Locke) in the original—have become criminally insane either because of past sexual abuse or because of their natural inclination toward evil. However, it is only in Knock Knock that their achievement of so-called justice makes any sense, albeit on a very superficial level. In both films, the invaders sentence their victim—named George (Seymour Cassel) in the original—to death after a mock trial for his adultery and ultimately spare his life, because it was all a game. What happens afterward is what really sets the two films apart.
In Knock Knock, Bel and Genesis metaphorically end Evan’s life via the internet—they post a video of him having sex with them to his social media—and subsequently move on to their next victim. In Death Game, however, it is George who goes free, and Donna and Jackson who presumably die at the end—they are hit accidentally by a speeding van, which (perhaps not incidentally) is from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). This ending is less effective than that of Knock Knock not only because of its senselessness, but also because it goes against the basic premise of both films, which is explicitly stated at the beginning of Death Game:
“This motion picture is based on a true story. It should serve to remind us that fate allows no man to insulate himself against the evil which pervades our society.”
Contrary to this message, George does, in some way, succeed in insulating himself, since he escapes with his life far more intact than Evan does. If Donna and Jackson were to die at the end because of some other evil in society, rather than accidentally being killed by the benevolent SPCA, then the ending would be redeemable. In this respect, Knock Knock did a better job living up to the premise shared by both films, despite their shared flaws.
