Knackningar

I recently watched the Swedish film 🇸🇪 Knocking (2021) on Shudder. The storyline follows a woman who has recently been released from a psychiatric ward and is beginning her new life in a new apartment. However, she hears strange knocking from the ceiling and walls. Is she losing her mind, or is her apartment haunted?

Directed by Frida Kempff (Winter Buoy), the film stars Cecilia Milocco (The Circle), Ville Virtanen (Bad Family), Charlotta Åkerblom (Agent Hamilton), and Emil Almén (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo).

This movie focuses on a woman's deteriorating mental state with little else driving the plot. While the acting is solid and the ending is very good, it's a long, slow, laborious journey to get there. The film offers a unique depiction of an individual's mental state, and the special effects at the end are effective in portraying the struggle between truth and reality. It's a poignant reminder of the battles many people face, with or without paranormal phenomena.

In conclusion, Knocking has some interesting elements but not enough to stand out in the genre. I would score it a 5/10 and recommend skipping.

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.

Well not really - on the other hand what do I know? Not that much to be truthful. I could tell you what happens at the end of the movie - but it would be - well there are certain ways to interpret what actually happens or rather happened there (and before).

The central performance is qute something. Yes this is a slow burning independent movie - I don't think this should come as a surprise. Neither that it uses certain proven tropes (or I guess you could call them "cliches"). Still and because of that powerful performance and because the movie keeps you guessing ... this may tickle your interest. And if it does and it manages to tickle all the right parts ... you will be entertained - for sure.

Having said that, you have to be in the mood for this. And for possible explanations. I read one about the ending and I have to admit that ... well it's not that I disagree, but whoever wrote that, seems too certain to know what the ending meant and how we should interpret it ... I on the other hand am telling you ... you can read it exactly opposite to what I read and what someone else wrote. So if ambiguity does not get you annoyed, I can recommend the movie for sure.

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.

Great performance from the lead. I felt her fear and anxiety the entire runtime. My wife and I were both felt so stressed and empathetic to the protagonists suffering.

After sitting with the ending overnight, I also really enjoyed it. It leaves me feeling happy, oddly enough.

Perhaps my favorite horror from Sundance? Censor was good too.

Give it a watch and stress out with our hero!