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From the Past

Films on the to-do list

  • Armageddon Time
  • Black Widow
  • Chimes at Midnight
  • The Killing of a Sacred Deer
  • Last Christmas
  • Remember Sunday
  • Shazam! 2
  • Thor: Love and Thunder
  • Spy Guys

Knowing (2009)

Film review: Knowing (2009), directed by Alex Proyas

Time has come to view the second out of the four rented Blu-rays: Knowing from 2009, which we also never got around to seeing at the cinema.

In 1959, a school have their students make drawings of the future and seal them in envelopes, put the envelopes in a time capsule on campus, where it is to be remain buried for 50 years. In 1959, a strange-looking girl called Lucinda doesn’t make a drawing of spaceships, robots or other futuristic things, no, she seems to be in some sort of trance and writes her paper full of what appears to be random numbers.

In 2009, the time capsule is dug up. Lucinda’s envelope ends up in the hands of Caleb Koestler (Chandler Canterbury), a kid with a hearing aid who lives with his astrophysicist lecturer dad (Nicholas Cage) and whose mum died in a hotel fire a year or so ago. Daddy happens to discover a sequence in the numbers, i.e. 911012996. Put in a few forward slashes and you have 9/11/01… an event that caused 2996 fatalities. Perhaps the numbers are all predicting disasters? Indeed they are … and three of them are just about due to happen!

No, that’s not spoiling things, all of this is in the trailer, pretty much. The fact that the numbers have to do with big loss of life.

Also stars Alan Hopgood as Reverend Koestler and Lara Robinson as Abby and the young Lucinda.

It’s an interesting film, although one does wonder why the hell John Koestler decides to pursue the events and not just go “okay, note to self: don’t go there”. He’s so angsty in his meeting with a woman called Diana (Rose Byrne) that you really don’t wonder why she reacts the way she does. I mean, you wouldn’t exactly invite him for a cup of coffee, as his whole appearance just screams WEIRDO!! at you.

The ending was depressing, yet hopeful. We couldn’t decide if the film was for or against God/religion and listening to some of the director’s commentary of the ending confirmed that it’s supposed to be up to your own interpretation – i.e. the film is kind of agnostic. In a way, it says “there is no God”, while at the same time … it does? At least I’m pretty sure it says it’s good to have faith. I thought it was very fitting how a particular Biblical prophet was brought up, especially considering what some people are saying now with regards to what he wrote down. If I was to say it more plainly than that, it would be a spoiler.

Good fun, interesting concept, in an “Oh God, oh God, we’re all gonna die” type way. Prophecy is fun. Makes me want to go and write those Divination lessons I should work on for a particular Swedish roleplaying game.

Nicolas Cage. I couldn’t help but think I’d like to see him in a cravat. I’m sure he’d look smashing.

3 out of 5 numbers.

Traxy

An easily distracted and over-excited introvert who never learns to go to bed at a reasonable time. Enjoys traveling (when there's not a plague on), and taking photos of European architecture. Cares for cats, good coffee and Boardwalk Empire. A child of her time, she did media studies in school and still can't decide what she wants to be when she grows up.

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