Knackningar

Knocking is more of a psychological thriller than a classic horror film, dealing with the idea of gaslighting and mental illness.

The story could be summed up in a sentence and the pacing is rather slow, but the cinematography is great - and as the film progresses so do the mental prisons of it's protagonist break and reveal the true reality.

Knocking, directed by Frida Kempff, is a slow-burning psychological thriller that is equal parts haunting and frustrating. The film follows a woman named Molly who is released from a psychiatric hospital and moves into a new apartment, only to be tormented by a persistent knocking sound that nobody else seems to hear.

The film's cinematography and sound design are excellent, with Kempff using close-ups and atmospheric soundscapes to create an eerie and unsettling atmosphere. The film's lead actress, Cecilia Milocco, also delivers a strong performance, conveying both the vulnerability and the resilience of her character.

However, the film's pacing is a major issue, with the slow-burn approach feeling unnecessarily stretched out and repetitive at times. The film also struggles to balance its psychological and supernatural elements, with the latter feeling tacked on and underdeveloped.

The film's themes of trauma and gaslighting are timely and relevant, but the film's execution falls short of fully exploring them in a meaningful way. The film's ending, while intriguing, is also frustratingly vague and leaves too many unanswered questions.

Knocking is about a woman who leaves a psychiatric ward after a nervous breakdown, but she soon begins hearing mysterious knocking sounds in her apartment. Of course, any midnight horror movie is going to catch my attention and this happened to be one of the ones I really wanted to see. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to what I wanted it to be. Knocking follows a typical indie slow-burn about someone who may or may not be crazy. The movie tries to play smart, but we're all immune to any shock factor that comes our way. Everything is something we've seen before, yet I still found the movie entertaining. Cecilia Milocco gives a good performance that drives the whole thing. We know her history in mental health and an event that has scarred her which is fine for character development. My issue is because we know this, the whole time we're thinking she's crazy and hearing this. The end does play around with us leaving an ambiguous answer. For a 78-minute runtime it didn't feel all there, but maybe as a short this would've worked wonders. It's serviceable but nothing too special.

Knackningar (or Knocking for the English title) is a Swedish mystery/thriller. It's also categorized as a horror movie but that is absolutely not the case, not a bad movie but just not a horror. Although the running time is rather short (78 minutes) the story development was slow paced and made the movie seem longer. But the ending made up for that, not bad at all. During the entire movie there is a mysterious vibe that keeps you guessing and interested in the story. Cecilia Milocco was good, very believable in her performance. There's only a handful of actors and they all did good. Overall not a bad movie but with a faster pace it could have been better.

This film is a must see! A solid thriller drama with breathtaking acting from Cecilia Milocco. The story is rather simple in one sense. It follows Molly, a women coming home from a psychriatic clinic after dealing with the loss of her girlfriend. Back home she hears noises, knockings, in the walls and ceiling. It sounds like a woman in pain. It drives Molly to investigate where the sounds comes from but no one believes her conviction that a women in the building is getting hurt. This is the setting for this drama taking place in the suburbs somewhere in Sweden. But the big sucess of this film is not a smart plot or a who-done-it-mystery for the viewer to solve. Its the brilliantly performed emotional journey of Molly and the bold storytelling of relying in the moods and senses of the lead role that makes this a magnificent debut film from Frida Kempff. The visionary camerawork is highly emotionally driven and the script makes plenty of room for both moods and tensions far beyond the written dialogue. The movies core is the suggestive and subjective experience of loneliness and the effects of not being heard. In that sense, this movie suceed of being both a deeply moving drama and a thriller full of suspense. Cecilia Miloccos moving potrayal of Molly, a women struggling with sorrow and depression is masterly performed and makes this film a masterpiece.