Knocking
“Knocking” might be one of the best representations of catastrophic thinking I’ve ever seen in a movie. What is catastrophic thinking? It’s where your brain leads you to the worst case scenario, regardless of tangible evidence or not. There’s more to Frida Kempff’s film, and the character of Molly, however, than just anxious thoughts- she genuinely thinks she hears something to make her think murder has taken place. The tension of whether there’s truth to that drives the film.
The performance by Cecilia Milocco as Molly would be an award contender, if there was any justice. Molly has just been released from a psychiatric hospital after a tragedy which triggered a nervous breakdown. Now, she is on her own, and hoping to start her life over. Almost immediately, however, she begins to hear things to make her believe the worst has happened to one of her upstairs neighbors. It begins with a knocking sound, and then gradually, she hears voices, sees suspicious behavior, and begins to fear someone has died. But her words fall on deaf ears with both other tenants in the building, as well as the police. Is it a matter of her mind just playing tricks on her?
Based on a novel by Johan Theorin, “Knocking” plays like a riff on “Rear Window” as it progresses through it’s narrative, but the film is about more than just a mystery, and wondering whether Molly is right or not. One of the layers so expertly laid out in the screenplay by Emma Broström is how this woman is being gaslit by authorities and other people in her building. To a certain extent, though, we wonder ourselves how much of her experience is real, or a manifestation of her psychological issues. Even if it’s solely psychological, Kempff’s direction makes that an impossible thing for Molly to live with, and one cannot help to see it as an indictment of how society at large looks at people with mental health issues in the way people act with her in this film. These two elements are big keys into why “Knocking” succeeds, even as it seems to go towards a more “pat” ending than one expects by the end of the film. All the way through, Milocco’s performance leads us through the anxiety with focus and empathy for the character, which is more than earned. “Knocking” is a nerve-racking psychological thriller, and one that feels very authentic.
