'Knock Knock Knock' review: A depressing, nihilistic look on life

Director: Sudahsnhu Saria

Cast: Shantilal Mukherjee, Phuden Sherpa

Score: 3.5

Life is a fickle little thing. We are born, we live, we struggle, and we die - this is the common thread connecting all living beings, even humans. Some manage to overcome the struggle and grow into exceptional people; most grow, but fail to touch the pinnacle of greatness. But what about those who simply stagnate against the struggle of life? That is the question 'Knock Knock Knock' feels like it is trying to tackle.

On the surface, the film is a quiet reflection of two people - an aged crossword maker (Mukherjee) and a young, energetic tattoo artist with a flair for finding patterns in everything (Sherpa). It is an interesting dichotomy in the banter and the thoughts, somewhere in an unseen land between the temper of experience and the spontaneity of youth. But beneath that facade lies a woefully depressed outlook, one that has teetered on the edge of failure, but is perhaps just too shy - or afraid - to admit it.

Like its characters, 'Knock Knock Knock' relies on patterns to tell its tale in its short runtime of 40 minutes. It doesn't demand focus or utter attention, but rewards it with the little words exchanged between our characters, be it at a table discussing rituals, or in the world of the mind, where suspicion and doubt thrives, or at the edge of a cliff, where all of the soul is laid bare and the fears exposed. It is in these that the film's nihilistic take on life - that many times, the talented are forced down by the meager and the average, but are never allowed to give up on the threat of an imagined internal pressure or cowardice - shows up, rearing its head to those who have struggled, but never been able to breach that invisible barrier to greater heights. It is a most depressing thing to witness life that has grown and fought its way to adulthood and old age fail upon itself and break down, even when hope appears to linger in some forgotten corner of the mind.

To close, 'Knock Knock Knock' is not, as you may have surmised, a happy tale. It has its moments where it feels like the sun may shine after all, but that is a truth many are denied for any given reason - and that is whom this film focuses on.