![]() I had to watch the film over again immediately just to marvel at the artistic detail of the piece. Given that the film largely focuses on Sinia’s point of view, we don’t see a lot of the other actors on screen, but each character was believable. I felt connected to Sinia and her incredibly strong performance. Jones-Jones does an incredible job drawing the audience into the story. It is indeed a horror movie, but I would also add the category of psychological thriller because of the ways the film engages with its audience. Jones-Jones and composer Phillip Logan created these air-clinching moments where your listening becomes so focused that it felt as though I, as the audience, was trying to eavesdrop next door just to make sure everything is okay.Įvery second felt like it could turn south…then it builds and builds, until silence.ĭirector and writer, Kennikki Jones-Jones, lists her film Knock Knock as being part of the horror genre. The soundtrack is eerie, deep, and atmospheric. Unease starts to settle in, however, when the conversations fluctuate between “laughter” and a few “understandably” tough-love replies, to an audibly physically threatening situation. There is strain, but her look reassures us slightly. Sinia’s face, worried but increasingly numb, shows us that these conversations happen quite often. She hears voices coming through the wall and picks up conversations between the mother and the children next door. The story then takes us into Sinia’s home as she continues to go about her day. Again this feels familiar, like regular practices in their routine. This tension is slightly broken when the youngest lets out a smile and Sinia hands them a bag of chips to share. Tension is all over the children’s faces until we get to the younger two, who are last in line. As they’re walking, we witness an awkward encounter between Sinia and the children as she greets them as they pass by. The kids awkwardly rush back into the house, heads down. A yelling woman’s voice emerges, aggressively screaming for the kids to get back into the house. The door from the next house a few feet over creaks open enough for us to get a glimpse into the home. Sinia jumps to their defense and asserts that their mother is doing the best she can. ![]() The girl’s mother, who is standing by Sinia’s side, follows this with some heavy critiques of the school children being outside on their own, insinuating that they are clearly not being cared for. ![]() It’s a warm moment, and through Sinia’s eyes, we see that she cares deeply about children. We watch an intimate shot with Sinia and the girl looking in the reflection of a hand mirror together. The hairdresser, whom we come to know as Sinia, is extremely affectionate with the girl’s hair. It’s the middle of the day, they’re hanging out front, and one of the women is braiding the young girl’s hair. The scene is instantly familiar you can tell the two women have probably known each other for a long time. We then cut to two women and a young girl of about ten talking by the door of one of the brick houses. ![]() The neighborhood looks like most densely populated urban areas - grass growing out of the sidewalk, rectangular-shaped brick houses stacked tightly in neat rows, cars parked in droves on the side of the road, all framed by a beautiful horizon of trees. Jones-Jones’s ability to blend humor with such a distressing topic, combined with the excellent delivery by the cast, makes her characters and their dialogue even more relatable.Īs the film comes to life, we see elementary- and middle-school-aged children playing in the street. We learn instantly through some crude but hilarious dialogue that there is a possible case of neglect in their home. The film brings us into the story of Sinia, played by the incredible Shellita Boxie, a caring woman who is the maternal force for the neighborhood’s children, in particular the four children who live next door. I strapped myself in the passenger seat, more than willing to go on this journey. I was so immersed in the story, I kept wondering what I would’ve done in their shoes. That’s not to say that the film should be described as a “Black” movie, but rather that Jones-Jones’s storytelling gives a very real look into her characters’ experience. In a world where black voices tend to be muted by other cultural perspectives and biases, Knock Knock is a refreshing addition to the gambit of great black narratives, especially in the horror genre. Kennikki Jones-Jones, the writer and director of the short film Knock Knock, sets us up for a unique experience. Featuring Shellita Boxie, Avis-Marie Barnes, Nariah Glover, Aminieli Hopson, Ariel Coleman, and Malichi Payne-Selmore. Review of Kennikki Jones-Jones’s Knock Knockĭevelopmentally Edited by Alexandra Hidalgo
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |