If you were the only person who continuously hears something ominous, have reason to believe someone is in danger, but everyone thought you were insane for it, what would you do? Frida Kempff’s Swedish thriller Knocking explores this concept, and in turn, makes the audience question their assumptions as much as the protagonist does her own sanity.
Molly (Cecilia Milocco) is a woman with a troubled past. She spent a year institutionalized after a nervous breakdown and is ready to leave and pick up the pieces of her broken life. After moving into a small apartment, she begins to hear something concerning: mysterious knocking coming from the floor above her. All of her neighbors deny being the culprits or even hearing the sounds, but the knocking persists, eventually escalating to sounds of a woman in distress. Even when she contacts the authorities, they do little to address the problem and treat her with skepticism. They all think she’s crazy, but is she? Is somebody truly in danger, or has Molly’s mental illness warped her perceptions?
Cecilia Milocco commands every scene in Knocking as Molly and is enthralling to watch while her composure gradually slips away. We follow her through mundanities like grocery shopping and apartment decorating, and through that, we develop a kinship with her. It’s clear that she’s trying her best to make her new life successful, and that’s what we want for her. Occasionally, we’re given glimpses of what likely caused her nervous breakdown, and we sympathize with her. For a while, all seems optimistic for Molly, which makes her descent into debilitating paranoia even more heartbreaking. Milocco handles the subtleties of her character masterfully to the point where her emotions are downright palpable, making the film a gripping character exploration.
Technically speaking, Knocking succeeds as well. The sound design is important here to effectively convey the gravity of what Molly is experiencing, and it delivers. The camera work feels intimate and almost claustrophobic at times, which feels perfect for a film centering around a single character who eventually feels trapped inside her thoughts. The cinematography captures the grimness Molly eventually associates with her apartment complex, completely void of inviting, saturated colors to make her home more appealing. For a film focusing on such a singular concept with fairly slow pacing, the editing also manages to give it a steady momentum that doesn’t let anything linger for too long.
More than its successes behind the scenes, the underlying themes present in Knocking are what make the film most engaging. It speaks of the persistence of trauma in people’s lives and the inability for some to move past it. It discusses the stigma that people with mental health issues have. Most of all, it is a harsh examination of how women are consistently gaslit by men and the damaging effects it has upon these women. All of the people Molly confronts to solve the mystery of the maddening knocking are males, and this is definitely not a coincidence.
Knocking was an official selection at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, and it’s no surprise why. It’s a tight film that has much to say in its minutiae as we witness a woman question the very nature of sanity. Watch this one if you enjoy intimate psychological thrillers in the spirit of Repulsion or Rear Window.