A Hitman You’ll Miss.
Michael Keaton’s Knox Goes Away presents a unique twist on the classic hitman thriller, introducing a fascinating and heartbreaking complication: what happens when a professional killer is faced with the rapid onset of dementia? With mere weeks to live a life already defined by danger and violence, John Knox must resolve the unfinished business of his past while coming to terms with his own disintegrating mind.
The story begins with John Knox (Keaton) in the midst of what should be a routine job. However, the cracks are already showing and as little memory lapses accumulate, creeping up until Knox’s once-dependable skills start to fail him in crucial moments. When a botched assignment forces him to improvise the scene of a kill, Knox realizes he can no longer trust his own mind. His predicament is compounded by his attempts to reconnect with his estranged son (James Marsden), who has suddenly come back into Knox’s life following a crisis of his own.
Keaton delivers a layered performance, deftly navigating the shifting sands of Knox’s personality—a man caught between his instincts as a killer and his vulnerable, unravelling self. His portrayal captures both the menace and fragility of Knox, allowing the audience to empathize with his plight even as his actions remain morally ambiguous. The moments of Knox’s struggle are at their most compelling when Keaton allows the character’s panic and confusion to surface, giving us a glimpse of a once-competent man brought low by his own biology.
However, while Knox feels fully fleshed out, the film’s supporting cast suffers from a lack of commensurate development as it attempts to juggle a few too many character threads. Knox’s estranged son and granddaughter offer one compelling sub-plot, while the dogged Detective Emily Ikari, played by Suzy Nakamura, is hot on Knox’s heels as she tries to reconcile not one but two incongruous and contradictory crime scenes adds another. They do eventually come together but the final alignment doesn’t feel as clever as it should thanks to the film somewhat burying the lede by keeping the narrative slightly muddled until the last minute.
Al Pacino flits in and out the film with his characteristically gruff charisma. As Knox’s boss, he’s initially introduced as a figure of fear yet he’s a more sympathetic presence than his reputation suggests and his role is mostly one of concern and sadness, as well as offering crucial support in helping Knox execute his final cunning plans. Pacino’s charisma injects a needed burst of energy into the narrative, but his presence also underscores the film’s uneven use of its supporting cast as well as the obfuscation of the cleverness of the plot until it’s almost too late.
Michael Keaton’s sophomore directorial effort is an unhurried one, opting to let the tension simmer slowly rather than explode in quick bursts. This works well in building the atmosphere, but it also leads to moments where the film loses focus, leaving the audience adrift as it waits to regain momentum. Metatextually, it’s a neat echo of Knox’s mental state but its occasionally frustrating. Visually, the film employs a stronger aesthetic using light and shadow to effectively to mirror Knox’s mental state, with cityscapes rendered distant and muted, as if Knox is fading out of the world before our eyes. One of the most striking stylistic choices Keaton makes, though, is the near-absence of a traditional soundtrack. Instead, the sound design emphasizes the small, mundane noises that take on a chilling significance—each creak, each rustle becomes a reminder of Knox’s disintegrating reality. This stripped-back approach amplifies the tension, yet it occasionally feels like the silence works against the film, contributing to sections where the story seems to stall.
Knox Goes Away is an ambitious thriller powered by a strong central performance by Michael Keaton and an intriguing, high-concept premise that it can’t quite make the most of its potential. Keaton’s dual role as both star and director allows him to bring a deeply personal touch to the material, crafting an atmosphere that’s both haunting and introspective but the uneven pacing and underdeveloped relationships hold it back from greatness. Ultimately, Knox Goes Away, like its protagonist, finds itself slipping away when it should linger long in the memory.
