KNOX GOES AWAY : Tuesday 22nd October 2024.

I saw the M Rated 'KNOX GOES AWAY' aka 'ASSASSIN'S PLAN' aka 'A KILLER'S MEMORY' earlier this week, and this American crime thriller film is Co-Produced, Directed and starring Michael Keaton who made his Directorial debut in 2008 with 'The Merry Gentleman'. This film saw its World Premiere screening at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2023, had a limited cinema release in the US in mid-March this year, has so far grossed US$654K and has garnered mixed critical reviews.

The film follows a contract killer John Knox (Michael Keaton), who is estranged from his wife and son and lives alone, only interacting with other members of his industry and Annie (Joanna Kulig), the Polish sex worker who comes to visit him once a week on a Thursday, has done so for the past four years, and who shares his love of books. One night Knox meets up with his partner Thomas Muncie (Ray McKinnon) and announces that he has to cut their dinner short as he has to go to the airport to fly out to San Francisco for personal reasons and will be back in 24 hours. Muncie presses him for the reasons behind his flight but Knox just reiterates that it's personal. 

There Knox has an appointment with a specialist doctor and is diagnosed with a rapidly evolving form of dementia called Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease. Knox asks him how long has he got, and the Doctor responds with weeks only. Back home, Knox quickly makes arrangements to cash out and retire from the business. Before that, he undertakes one last job with Muncie. 

During the job, after successfully killing his target but also unintentionally killing the woman who was with him in the shower, Knox accidentally kills Muncie in his dementia-induced state. He hurriedly stages the scene and leaves. Later that night, he is unexpectedly visited by his estranged son who he hasn't seen or heard from for many years, Miles (James Marsden), who tearfully admits to killing a man for raping his sixteen year old daughter Kaylee (Morgan Bastin), Knox's granddaughter. Miles is fully aware of what his dad does for a living, and so believed that his father was the only man he could turn to under the circumstances. Knox tells his son to clean up thoroughly in the shower, while he bags up all of Miles clothes.

Knox instructs his son to remain quiet to the authorities and to go about his normal business as usual. Knox later that night arrives at the crime scene and meticulously removes evidence that may incriminate Miles, while mysteriously storing them away for later use. Meanwhile, determined detective Emily Ikari (Suzy Nakamura) is on both murder cases, and resolves to track down the killer.

Knox later visits his long term friend Xavier Crane (Al Pacino), a former thief. Together, they hatch a plan to set Knox's family up for life while leaving the business behind, all while Knox battles his fading mental capabilities. Meanwhile, Detective Ikari links both crimes to a single perpetrator. 

She questions Knox with little or no clarity, and he later plants the evidence he had previously stored away around his son Miles' home, in an apparent act of betrayal. Miles is arrested for the murder of his daughter's rapist, and is visited by Knox in prison, where Knox accuses his son of ratting him out to the IRS in a tax evasion case several years prior, for which he spent six years in prison. 

Knox visits a cabin in the woods that he used to own but which his son sold two years prior. He breaks in and removes a stone tile from under a wood burning stove to retrieve a small pouch of diamonds. He then wanders off into the woods and gets lost but is picked up by a kindly hiker who calls Crane to come and collect him. Crane drives him home. 

Upon reaching home, he is confronted by a group of three heavy set burglars and Annie, who had become aware of Knox's dementia and the fact that he had been cashing out and ratted him out as a result. Overpowering them all and finishing them off each with a couple of rounds Knox confronts Annie at gunpoint and informs her that she would have gotten a one third share anyway, with the other two thirds going to Miles and his ex-wife Ruby (Marcia Gay Harden).

Despondent, Knox calls Xavier, who wishes him all the best before calling the Police as part of their plan, and telling them that Knox is at home with three dead bodies. He is arrested by Detective Ikari. The Police later discover signs that the evidence found at Miles house may have been tampered with, and planted there by Knox, leading to the conclusion that Knox may have framed his own son for the murder. When asked by Ikari on a possible motive, Miles, recalling his father's accusation of him in prison, responds accordingly, shifting the blame on to Knox. He is then released.

A few weeks weeks later, Miles visits his father in prison. Knox, now having fully lost his mental faculties, does not recognise his own son and is later moved from prison to a medical facility, having only weeks left to live. Miles and his mother receive equal shares of Knox's fortune now split just two ways, ensuring the completion of his retirement plan. Annie, who is spared, is shown receiving Knox's library and opening the cover of 'A Tale of Two Cities'. Knox is seen staring out of a window in a catatonic state. 

'Knox Goes Away' is a slow burn neo-noir crime thriller that doesn't feature explosions, car chases, or OTT gun play or close quarter combat. Instead, Director and star Keaton has delivered a character study that is engaging and nuanced, tautly wound and clever all at once, while eeking out top notch, albeit low key performances from its cast. As for the storyline, it's a little convoluted and almost bordering on the unbelievable, but that shouldn't stop you from enjoying this race against the clock for this hitman with rapid onset dementia to redeem himself to the people he cares most about. 

'Knox Goes Away' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

    

-Steve, at Odeon Online-