The Knocking review | Something lurks in the forest in this Finnish folk horror

★★★☆☆
Three siblings return to their childhood home and face their collective trauma in this Finnish chiller. Read our The Knocking review. 

by Maria Lattila |
The Knocking review

★★★☆☆

Three siblings return to their childhood home and face their collective trauma in this Finnish chiller. Read our The Knocking review. 
Given Finland’s rich treasure trove of folklore and myths, it’s surprising that no horror film from the Nordic country has really utilised it until now. Finland isn’t exactly known for its genre offerings, but with Hanna Bergholm’s superb Hatching and now The Knocking, horror fans have been feasting on Finnish genre goods.  In The Knocking, we follow three siblings who return to their childhood home to sort through their parents’ stuff before they sell the place. Years earlier, the siblings’ mother (Olga Temonen) presumably killed their father with an axe, before vanishing. The youngest, Matilda, was also found in a cage, but her memory is foggy at best.  Now adults, Matilda (Saana Koivisto), Maria (Inka Kallén) and Mikko (Mikko Strang) are forced to reconcile with their past, but there seems to be something supernatural going on. Are the local myths about forest guardians real after all? 
The Knocking matilda

Credit: Blue Finch Film Releasing

The Knocking is absolutely dripping with an oppressive mood. Established in the very first moments of the film, it retains its intense, impressive atmosphere all the way to the rather bleak ending. Directors Joonas Pajunen and Max Seeck skillfully mix folk horror, eco-horror and the supernatural into a dizzying, terrifying experience.  The Knocking mostly avoids jumpscares, but when they come, they’re a little on the generic side. Pajunen and Seeck are stronger when they focus on the overall atmosphere and their script masterfully layers the many secrets held by the siblings as well as the land itself. The film is reminiscent of the upcoming Cobweb as well as Corin Hardy’s superb Irish horror The Hallow.  While the film does occasionally succumb to some tired tropes of the genre, The Knocking mostly feels like a horror classic in the making. The peculiar score, mixed with the visually dynamic images, create an unnerving film and even though some of the dialogue still feels a little stilted and overly constructed, The Knocking manages to keep up the intrigue through its modest 85 minute runtime.  The finale comes quickly and feels a little rushed. Adopting a jarring red colour scheme, which feels wholly unnecessary, the film’s final stretch is helplessly rushed. Thematically, there is a lot going on; Maria still harbours feelings of guilt over an adoption she was coerced into, Matilda struggles with the family’s violent past and her part in it and Mikko seems to be hiding more than anyone else, but Pajunen and Seeck constantly prioritise plot over the overarching story which leaves the audience wanting a tad more.  All three leads are superb. Pekka Strang, so compelling in Dome Karukoski’s Tom of Finland, is helplessly overshadowed by the powerful women around him. There’s a tragic undercurrent running beneath Kallén’s performance and Koivisto proves to be a committed performer.  This might be a minor flaw and one that could only ever bother a native Finn, but the film rarely looks like it’s set in a Finnish forest. The film is visually stunning and the cinematography by Matti Eerikäinen makes the deep, lush forest into something equally terrifying and mysterious. Filmed in neighbouring Estonia, The Knocking can’t quite capture the singular aura and energy of Finnish nature.  But this is a mightily creepy and mysterious affair. Together with films such as Hatching and Girls Girls Girls, we are living through some excellent times for Finnish cinema. 
The Knocking is playing at FrightFest on 25 and 27 August before debuting on digital platforms 4 September

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