Just a couple of weeks after the release of one of his worst movies, writer-director Eli Roth is at it again with Knock Knock— a far-better offering.
Keanu Reeves stars as Evan, a loving husband with two children who is left alone for a couple of days while the wife and kids go on a trip. Just as Evan is about to light the old pot pipe, there’s a knock at the door. Two of the most beautiful women in the world, Genesis (Lorenza Izzo) and Bel (Ana de Armas), are soaking wet and in need of assistance.
Evan innocently lets them in to use the phone, dry their clothes and, as things eventually turn out, have mad sex. Unfortunately for Evan, he winds up being part of a nasty torture game in which he will pay for his infidelities in horrible, gut-churning ways.
While Roth never really reveals why the girls are acting so terribly, there are hints—and that’s all the film really needs. Reeves does a nice job of acting scared shitless and out-of-his-mind angry. He has a rant near the end of the film, when he is tied in a chair, that might be the best moment of acting he’s ever produced. Izzo—who was the only good thing about Roth’s recently released The Green Inferno, besides some of the eating scenes—is great as the ringleader, while de Armas makes for a fun, wildly sadistic sidekick.
The movie has restored my faith in the directing chops of Roth, and it gives Reeves another good movie after last year’s John Wick.
Knock Knock is available on demand and via online sources including iTunes and Amazon.com.