By Justina Bonilla

Five years after its initial release, Knock Knock, which stars Hollywood royalty Keanu Reeves and, at the time, relative newcomers Ana de Armas and Lorenza Izzo, has gained a resurgence in popularity thanks to Netflix.

Netflix released Knock Knock on October 28 and immediately it shot up to the #2 spot on its top ten list of films trending in the United States. Director Eli Roth reacted to this on his Instagram with an ecstatic, “This is incredible.” Adding, “Out of nowhere. Thank you everyone for watching.”

Knock Knock is an erotic home invasion horror/thriller filmed in 2015 in Chile. It’s Roth’s third writing collaboration with Uruguayan director/producer/writer Guillermo Amoedo. Their first two other films include Aftershock and The Green Inferno. Two of the actor who appeared in these films Aaron Burns (The Green Inferno) and Ignacia Allamand (The Green Inferno, Aftershock) were tapped to also star in Knock Knock at the time.

In this psychological thriller we meet Evan (Keanu Reeves), a dedicated middle-aged father who loves his wife and two young children, but is dissatisfied with his current situation. One rainy night, while his family is away for the weekend, two wet and lost young women, de Armas and Izzo, show up at his front door asking for directions. Evan opens his home to them with good intentions only to eventually fall for their charms and have a lapse in judgement. In the morning the women refuse to leave, proceeding to drag Evan into hell on Earth.

The style of horror seen in Knock Knock was the first major cinematic departure Roth had taken from his signature style of vivid gore and graphic violence known as “torture porn.” Knock Knock instead emphasized psychological horror, through the torturing of Evan by the two young women, with a dose of physical violence.

This film was a remake of the 1977 film Death Game (also known as The Seducers), which starred Colleen Camp and Sondra Locke, who were also producers on Knock Knock.

Knock Knock was de Armas’ first cross-over into English-language film and her introduction to U. S. audiences. Prior to this de Armas, who was born in Cuba, had mainly worked in films and television in Spain. Once she caught the attention of Hollywood, de Armas landed a plum role in Blade Runner 2049. She received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance in her follow-up film Knives Out (2019), where she starred alongside Daniel Craig. She then went on to once again star alongside Craig when she was cast as “Bond Girl” Paloma in No Time to Die. Her biggest role to date will be playing the title role of Norma Jean AKA Marilyn Monroe in the upcoming film Blonde which is being produced by Brad Pitts’ production company, Plan B.

Chilean actress Izzo began her acting career in two popular Chilean romantic comedies. Her first English speaking role was in Aftershock. She later worked in the films Green Inferno and the Oscar-winning Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, as well as on television in the Showtime limited series Penny Dreadful: City of Angels.

A unique suspenseful horror film, Knock Knock explores the diversity of modern Latin horror cinema.

With Knock Knock adding to Netflix’s roster and Latino themed films, domestic and international, it only broadens their major international influence for promoting Latino content and talent.

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Cutting Through the Layers of A Brilliantly Crafted Murder Mystery

Knives Out, at first glance appears to be a brilliantly crafted murder mystery, showcasing Golden Globe-nominated, Cuban-born actress, Ana de Armas.  As conceived and realized by writer/director Rian Johnson, Knives Out is being hailed as the best murder mystery ever. No argument here. Knives Out is a movie that will leave you guessing until the rolling of the credits at the end.

Johnson also wrote and directed Brick, a lovely little film noir gem set in a high school with a teenage loner, (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Third Rock from The Sun) investigating the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend. Brick is a personal favorite and now I can add Knives Out to my list.

In Knives Out, Christopher Plummer, plays Harlan Thrombey, the super-wealthy patriarch of a highly dysfunctional, greedy, and thoroughly corrupt family. Harlan intends to cut them all out of his will.

Famed Southern detective, Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), a sort of grits ‘n collard greens version of Hercule Poirot is hired to investigate the suspicious circumstances of Thrombey’s suicide, to invalidate Marta’s inheritance, claim to the family fortune.

Johnson’s plot, in Knives Out, has more twists and turns than a pretzel caught up in a Kansas tornado. But an examination of the subtext of the storyline, offers some interesting meditations on current Latino cultural and political issues.

“They All Look Alike”

No one seems to know exactly where Marta is from. At various points in the film, Marta is thought to be from Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay and Brazil. This hints at Anglo America’s tendency to lump all Latino communities into one, all-encompassing, monolithic burrito. The fact that no one in the Thrombey family has no idea where Marta is from underscores White America’s ignorance of the rich diversity in food, customs and music that exists within the larger, extended Latino community. 

That ethnic ignorance is evident in Stephen Miller’s (Senior Advisor to the President for Policy) barbaric, no tolerance immigration policy along the Tex-Mex border. Safe to say, no one in the Trump administration knows the difference between a mariachi and a margarita. Their loss.

The Noble Innocent

In films like Knives Out, where a wealthy Anglo family has a Latina housekeeper, nanny, maid, or in this case, a caregiver, they are always portrayed as humble, grateful, hard-working servants whose only purpose in life is to serve their gringo overlords. Salma Hayek, in Beatriz at Dinner, comes to mind.

de Armas, as Marta, is indeed humble, trustworthy and honest; honest to a fault. Marta is so averse to lying, whenever an untruth slips out from her lips, she has a severe physiological reaction: she pukes. But it’s Marta’s innate goodness and honesty that is the central plot element that drives the narrative. Marta is the connective tissue in Knives Out.

Everyone in Knives Out reacts to Marta in one way or another. Marta, the noble innocent, is the locus of the mystery.

The New Working Class and the Power of women

America’s working-class hero is no longer a Joe Schmo, with a lunch pail, going off to toil in some assembly line. It’s a thing of the past.  It’s a thing now only wistfully spoken about by old white guys gathered in diners in the Midwest.

Johnson’s script illustrates the present reality: the new working-class is women, women of color, and most especially, Latina women working in menial, thankless minimum wage jobs. Johnson could have cast an Eastern European or Southeast Asian immigrant in the role of the caregiver. But he smartly and rightly recognizes the emerging Latino demographics in 21^st century America.

In Sergio Arau’s whimsical film fantasy, A Day Without a Mexican, posits an apocalyptic future where white America is left to fend for themselves when Mexicans turn in their noble innocent cards and decide not to show up for work.

But Marta is also a testament to the power of women. How is it this young girl from an unknown Latin American country has such a profound effect on the rich and powerful Thrombey family?

Certainly writer/director, Johnson, through Marta, is channeling the all-too-obvious evidence of powerful women in the world today: 16-year old Greta Thunberg, the Joan of Arc of the Climate Change Movement,  speaks truth to power as she challenges the fossil fuel dinosaurs, 79-year old Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, has Trump by the short hairs and has him squealing like a stuck pig, and for the first time in recorded history, beautiful black women, this year, won every major beauty pageant. On the political spectrum, women won a record number of congressional seats in the 2018 midterm election, many of them Latinas.

A View from the Balcony

The final shot, in Knives Out is a perfect metaphor for the cultural, sociological and demographic changes just over the horizon.

Marta is totally guileless. Her actions throughout the film are guided by a strong, internal moral compass that always steers her in the right direction. Marta wins because she is simply a better person than everyone else in the film

It was that natural integrity that enabled the old, rich patriarch, Harlan Thrombvey, to entrust Marta with his deepest secrets, his life and ultimately, his wealth.

In the final shot, we see Marta high atop the mansion balcony looking down at the ruthless Thrombey clan. That shot with Marta in the superior position and the Thrombey’s in the inferior position below, is cinematic shorthand to show who’s the boss now: a Latina.

From the balcony, Marta is seen sipping coffee from a cup. Uno momento, is that Colombian coffee, Marta? Is Rian Johnson hinting that you are from Bogotá or Cartagena? No matter, we all look alike, right?

Regardless of where Marta or the coffee comes from, Knives Out and de Armas performance is an entertaining, rich, aromatic brew that is good to the very last drop.

Knives Out is written and directed by Rian Johnson and stars: Daniel Craig, Christopher Plummer, Ana de Armas, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis with Marlene Forte playing De Armas’ mother and Raul Castillo (Looking) doing a cameo as a police officer; and Meg (Katherine Langford) and Marta (Ana de Armas)

Knives Out was released by Lionsgate on November 27, 2019 and has so far grossed  $185,573,909 worldwide on a budget of $40 million.

Lauded by critics for Oscar nominations for Best Actress for Ana de Armas, Best Supporting Actor, Daniel Craig, Best Original Screenplay, Rian Johnson, and Best Production Design, David Crank. Come January 13, 2020 when the Oscar nominees are announced we will see if the voting body of the Academy of Motion Pictures Art and Sciences agrees.

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The Movie Award Season will officially kick into gear with the announcement of the Golden Globe nominations on Dec 9^th followed by the Academy Award nominations on January 13th.  It is becoming apparent that Jennifer Lopez and Antonio Banderas are the two Latino front runners in the acting categories.

Lopez generated buzz and critical acclaim at the Toronto film festival in September, when she was singled out for her gritty portrayal of Ramona Vega, in Hustlers where she played a Bronx-bred, single mother stripper at clubs frequented by Wall Street clients; a movie she also produced. Lopez is being talked about to be nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category for this role for both a Golden Globe and an Oscar. She has already nabbed a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award in the same category.  

The announcement of the Oscar nominees is scheduled for January 13th.  Should Lopez pick up the nomination that has so far eluded her, it would be her first Oscar nomination after making her debut 25 years ago in her star-making titular role in Selena in 1995.

The campaign for Lopez’s Best Supporting Oscar nomination went into full swing as voting members of the Academy Of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences began receiving their DVD’s of Hustlers.  With special private screenings and not to mention the hefty priced “For Your Consideration” advertisements in the Hollywood trade publications, this campaign is definitely going full out.

Although a long shot, given the competition this year, if Lopez were to win, she would be only the second Latina to win an Oscar in the Supporting Actress category. Rita Moreno won her Oscar in 1961, so it is overdue for another Latina to win.

Antonio Banderas Up for Best Actor Oscar

Antonio Banderas is a solid contender for his incredible multi- layered portrayal of Salvador Mello, an aging film director going through a personal life crisis in Pedro Almodovar’s Pain and Glory. His performance has already won Banderas the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival this past May in France. 

This role is the eighth collaboration between actor Banderas and director Almodovar, in a career span that began in the early  1980’s in their native Spain. At that time, the young international screen heartthrob caught the attention of singer Madonna who featured Banderas in her documentary Truth or Dare and with whom she later co-starred within the film version of Evita. He came to the US to do his first U.S. starring role in 1992’s The Mambo Kings. Since then he has appeared in numerous motion pictures as a leading man and his best-known movies include Desperado, Spy Kids, Philadelphia, The Mask of Zorro and as the voice of the swashbuckling pussycat in the animated Shrek film franchise. 

Pedro Almodovar’s Pain and Glory, since it is a Spanish language film may receive an Oscar nomination as Best International film, the category in which Roma won last year. 

Ana de Armas Stars in Possible Oscar-Nominated Film

The beautiful and talented Ana de Armas is featured in Rian Johnson’s delightfully inventive murder mystery Knives Out. A stand out performance in her role as nurse Marta Cabrera among an ensemble cast of screen veterans including Christopher Plummer, Daniel Craig, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, and Chris Evans. The dark comedy has been well received by both critics and audiences and may well be nominated in the Best Picture category for the Oscars and Golden Globes, as well as the Screen Actors Guild Awards. 

For de Armas to be associated with a popular award-winning movie such as Knives Out will certainly boost and add prestige to her fast-rising career track beginning with her co-starring roles in Hands of Stone (2016) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

De Armas also has the distinction of co-starring as a “Bond girl” opposite Daniel Craig again as Paloma, in the upcoming James Bond 007 adventure No Time To Die, set for release in April 2020.  

Possible Latinos Directors Nominees?

Though there have been several major films starring Latinos, Dora The Explorer, Terminator: Dark Fate, and Ms. Bala, (La Llorona being the exception), few have been helmed by Latino directors. Fernando Mirelles of The Two Popes is Brazilian and Sam Mendes of the visually stunning world war I drama 1917 is London born of Portuguese and Trinadian descent. The only stateside Latina director in possible consideration would be Melina Matsoukas, of Cuban descent whose recently released feature film Queenie and Slim deals with an African-American couple on the run to Cuba after a violent encounter with a police officer. 

Other Possibilities

With no entries this year from the Mexican directors (Alfonso Cuaron, Alejandro Iñárritu, & Guillermo del Toro) who have dominated the awards for the past five years, the Oscar race will be strictly American. Two films will be leading the awards, Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood in which Latinos were featured nominally (Ramon Franco Raul Cardoza, Gilbert Saldivar, Marco Rodriguez and Clifton Collins Jr.) and Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman (Bobby Cannavale and a cameo by Dascha Polanco).  

Let’s hope this Award season is a little more diverse and a little more inclusive, with a touch of brown, so to speak.  A bit more diverse than just Black and White.

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