'Knocking' is a mystery thriller that follows Molly, a fragile woman who, after moving into a new apartment tries to find the source of mysterious knocking noises coming from outside of her apartment.
The film starts with Molly during her last days at a psychiatric hospital. She leaves the institution and is shown moving into a new apartment. As she tries to settle in, she is shown remembering her time together with Judith, her girlfriend, as they spend a day at the beach. At the new building she meets Peter, the building super, who introduces himself and promises to put up Molly's name on her door. After some time, Molly starts to hear odd knocking noises. Presuming the knocking emanates from the apartment above hers, she inquires with Kaj, her upstairs neighbour who dismisses the inquiry, assuming another tenant may be carrying out home renovations.
Some time later Molly sees another one of her upstairs neighbours, Atif argue with his girlfriend outside and drag the girl back to their apartment, prompting Molly to call the police to investigate. After the officers arrive, Atif and his girlfriend clear the air, stating that they were just having an argument. The officers return to Molly's apartment to wait with her, to see if the knocking noises are there. The officers leave haven't heard anything, much to Molly's disappointment.
After hearing the knocks again later, Molly figures the noises are Morse code, and over time tries to decipher the message. She becomes more paranoid after discovering bloodied clothes in one of her neighbours, Per's, trash bags, and after hearing the knocks again, goes to the police station to report her suspicions. She waits to be consulted, but immediately turns around after seeing the officer she is to discuss with is Per.
After some time passes, Molly grows increasingly more anxious and after hearing the knocks once again, she proceeds to go upstairs, rings all her neighbours doorbells and proceeds to have a violent outburst, as she barges into Kaj's apartment, believing the knocks to be coming from there. She happens upon a locked door, and threatens Kaj at knife-point to open the door. There she finds his ailing mother, and after the incident is taken away to the psychiatric hospital. At night, Molly proceeds to leave and return to her apartment, where she changes into a dress and proceeds to have a drink. Still hearing the knocking noises, she decides to give in to her thoughts and reminisces about Judith, who is revealed to have drowned that day Molly thinks of at the beach. As she keeps hearing the knocks, Molly tries to alleviate her stress, lights a joint and accidentally causes a fire. Firemen are shown to find Molly in a smoke filled room, and the film closes on first responders trying to revive her as voice-over of the firefighters radio can be heard them entering Peter's apartment, and them finding a girl chained up in on of the rooms.
'Knocking' is a suspenseful mystery that follows Molly after she has suffered a tragic loss. When we find her leaving the psychiatric ward at the opening of the story, we are shown that she is a typical and quiet woman, suggesting that whatever she may have gone through is being dealt with. Molly comes off as somewhat restless, nervous about interacting with the outside world and the people around her. Over time however, she seems to be adjusting to her environment until the knocking starts. At first her response is appropriate, with her investigating where it may be coming from and not dwelling on it too much. However, the film delivers a subtle yet deeply concerning downward spiral for Molly, as we are shown that she is an unreliable narrator, seeing that which is not there and possibly jumping to conclusions.
'Knocking' is effective in exploring Molly's descent into madness as the character tries to cope with starting her life over and is at the same time pushed to her breaking point by the questionable knocking that gnaws away at her sanity. The success of the feature lies in presenting Molly as someone we cannot entirely trust, as at one point she sees a woman fall to her death from the building opposite hers, yet there is no one there and as the story progresses and she is shown hearing the knocking noises outwith her apartment before the climax of the film.
Cecilia Milocco portrays Molly, a fragile and apprehensive person who is burdened with re-entering society after trying to cope with the loss of her partner. Initially, Molly seems unlikeable as she seems to second guess each of her decisions and appears odd around others. As the film goes on however, it becomes apparent how deeply the loss of Judith has impacted Molly and Milocco delivers an outstanding performance in illustrating the complexity that lies with Molly's anxieties, fears and perceptions. The character reaches a breaking point and Milocco showcases her ability to convey a remarkably frightening scene of a woman's fear and rage as she feels backed into a corner and tries to convince those around her and herself that she is not imagining things.
The film is written and directed by Frida Kempff in her feature directorial debut. The creator has developed a deeply frightening character study and a narrative through which Kempff manages to promote a disturbing examination of a person's downfall with the accompanying accoutrements of paranoia, anxiety, despair and ultimately sadness. The story is assisted by well placed visual cues that allow the viewer to question Molly's mental state, as the set-pieces contribute to the dubious nature of her mental stability whilst remaining rooted in reality, resulting in an absorbing investigation of what is real and what may be a by-product of Molly's imagination.
'Knocking' is an absorbing narrative of its main character and her mental health, as Molly tries to recover from her personal tragedy and is tested and pushed to her limits with the ever intruding annoyance and ultimately obsession over the knocking noises encroaching on her sanity. The film also manages to revert to the root of Molly's sorrow, revealing the cause of her instability over the loss of her love. At the same time, the audience is allowed to question the reality of what is really happening, maintaining a degree of suspense and intrigue throughout the films runtime.
Score: 3/4
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