Knowing – Film Review

Fifty years after it was buried in a time capsule, a schoolgirl’s cryptic document falls into the hands of Caleb Koestler, the son of Professor John Koestler (Nicolas Cage). John figures out that the encoded message accurately lists every major disaster from the past five decades, and predicts three future calamities — one a global cataclysm. When his warnings fall on deaf ears, John enlists the help of the prophetic author’s daughter and granddaughter to try to avert the ultimate disaster.

Nearly everybody that watches movies says that Nicolas Cage is the ultimate king of the movie freakouts and I definitely agree with that belief. There is just something so inexplicably entertaining about watching the man lose his mind even if it is just acting. His many freakouts throughout the course of his film career have gone down in history as some of the most iconic moments in cinematic history. Don’t believe me? Look up how many people adore the scene from The Wicker Man where he screams “Not the bees! Not the bees!”.

Or the scene from Vampire’s Kiss where a frustrated Cage says “I didn’t misfile anything! Not once! Not one time!”. But as fun as it is to rag on Cage about how goofy and over-the-top he can be in the majority of his projects, there are some movies where Cage is unironically good. Not so bad that he’s good, but actually good.

Take for instance his role in Adaptation and Lord of War – two excellent performances from Cage that rattled audiences and critics alike because he was shockingly great in them. One of my favorite roles of his to date, however, has to be that of Jonathan Koestler in Alex Proyas’ Knowing – a deeply thought-provoking film that touches upon themes of religion, otherworldly beings, and our purpose on this planet.

Although the sequences where things start to hit the fan and various different terrifying disasters happen (such as the absolutely heartstopping plane crash scene that still shakes me to my core to this day) are exciting and riveting to watch, at its core, Knowing is a hugely interesting movie that never lets go of its menacingly strong grip.

There are numerous mysteries that the film presents to not only the main cast of characters but also to the audience members watching. Just when you think you may have a fairly good understanding of what’s happening, the screenwriters pull the rug from underneath you and make you question everything you thought you knew about this crazy story.

And it seriously makes you wonder just how far you would be willing to go to save the people you love as well as complete strangers when you have a scary gut feeling that something bad is going to happen in just a day or two. Not only that but it presents us with a character, Jonathan Koestler, who is just a normal guy. He doesn’t have any superpowers or anything that is going to come in handy when it comes to solving these pressing mysteries. All he has to rely on is his brain.

Trust me when I say that Knowing will also make you use your brain for two hours straight. It is easily one of the most interesting and mind-numbingly amazing science-fiction films I have ever had the pleasure of seeing. From its eerie and uncomfortable opening all the way to its disturbing and powerful ending, Knowing is a behemoth in so many good ways.