Steadily over the last few years there has been a rise in the popularity of both eco and folk horror movies. The climate’s steady decline has seen directors compelled to unleash nightmares of nature turning the tables. Similarly, shifts in society have seen audiences once more invested with horrific folk tales. Now Finnish writing and directing duo Max Seeck and Joonas Pajunen have combined elements of both sub-genres with their debut feature, The Knocking.
A film which jumps back and forth in time, The Knocking opens in the past. Here a young girl is found trapped inside a cage in the middle of the woods. Years later that girl, Matilda (Saana Koivisto), joins her brother Mikko (Pekka Strang) and Sister Maria (Inka Kallén) on a visit to their former residence. Now adults, the siblings are hoping to sell their late parents’ former home and put some bad experiences to bed. As the estranged family group begin to prepare the property, they find themselves consumed with the past, and history starts to repeat itself.
Tinged with childhood trauma, the focus on The Knocking is on the dramatic elements. Matilda, the youngest sibling, has very few memories of her time in the house, and Maria and Mikko appear to be hiding information from her. This imbalance of knowledge causes frissons of tension within the group, but Matilda’s trauma isn’t the only one being avoided. Through the use of flashbacks, featuring some very well cast younger actors, snippets of the secrets start to be revealed. Seeck and Pajunen slowly trickle the information, cleverly drawing the viewer into the family drama.
Whilst Seeck and Pajunen spin their familial web of intrigue, they begin to insidiously sneak in their horror elements. The setting alone – a house in the middle of the forest – easily conforms to horror aesthetics. But there is more going on with the trees than simply appearing menacing. These trees are rotten to their very core and are intrinsically linked to ancient Finnish folklore. As the trio finally start to look outside of their emotional trauma they find themselves terrorised by their surroundings and what dwells inside. The scare sequences, though few and far between, are well composed. Whilst they may not chill the audience as intensely as they could, they do intensify the stakes for Matilda, Maria, and Mikko.
The Knocking has a great opening and an excellent bitter end, but somewhere in the middle it gets a little muddled. The ratio of family drama to horror becomes unbalanced and so the narrative and pacing sag slightly. It is never so extreme that it loses the viewer’s investment, but there is the feeling that it could be a tad tighter. For a first-time feature though, both Seeck and Pajunen demonstrate a talent for twisted tales and an eye for a well composed shot. Their willingness to explore eco-horror through the veil of something other than evil fungus is also welcome. Trees are old and all seeing, and the pair do great work at making them appear extra creepy. A mostly solid debut, The Knocking pairs eco-horror, family trauma, and folklore scares, with admirable results.
The Knocking
Summary
A noteworthy debut, The Knocking is a well-made marriage of familial tensions, secrets, and scares.
The Knocking was reviewed at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest 2023. Blue Finch Film Releasing presents The Knocking on digital platforms 4 September
