Knox Goes Away
Dementia. A curse on a person where their physical self can be in perfect condition, but their brain has gone away. In Knox Goes Away, the twist is that John Knox is a contracted hitman for an unknown person named Jericho. He is not a young man, but the dementia that is setting in is acting fast. So, he begins to settle his affairs so that a mysterious three recipients will receive the money that he had amassed over the years.
But then his estranged son shows up on his doorstep covered in blood, begging for help. They hadn't seen each other in years, and Knox doesn't even recognize him due to his deteriorating capacity, even for just a split second. The audience knows what's going on, but nobody else does.
My grandfather had dementia, and he lived for six years after it progressed enough that he wouldn't be able to drive his car any longer. Some days were better than others, and Michael Keaton's Knox plays this to absolute perfection. When critics say that he gave a performance of a lifetime, they weren't kidding.
Losing my mind is one of my greatest fears, if not the number one. When you have dementia, you don't know you have dementia. The movie describes it in such a way where the person will forget a word, or a situation, immediately after it happens, but the emotion that is evoked does not disappear. Can you imagine feeling sad, or happy, or anxious, and you don't know why? That scares me. And it scares Knox. Watch his face, read his confusion, and I bet you'll feel as anxious as I did when you can't tell if he's there or not.
While the shadow of looming dementia is dark and powerful, the true genius is the last job Knox has to complete before it's too late. You'll be blown away as you wonder how much is real or not. I did not expect to cry throughout the film, but I couldn't help it. It's so painful to empathize with Knox, and then be reminded that he is a hitman and has killed lots of people over the course of his life.
I write about mental illness frequently, but this is a topic I have not explored. My condition can be treated with medication and I am living a full life, memories intact, and emotional responses under control. The level of dementia Knox feels is untreatable. Think about that when you notice your friends and family changing before your eyes.
Dementia. A curse on a person where their physical self can be in perfect condition, but their brain has gone away. In Knox Goes Away, the twist is that John Knox is a contracted hitman for an unknown person named Jericho. He is not a young man, but the dementia that is setting in is acting fast. So, he begins to settle his affairs so that a mysterious three recipients will receive the money that he had amassed over the years.
But then his estranged son shows up on his doorstep covered in blood, begging for help. They hadn't seen each other in years, and Knox doesn't even recognize him due to his deteriorating capacity, even for just a split second. The audience knows what's going on, but nobody else does.
My grandfather had dementia, and he lived for six years after it progressed enough that he wouldn't be able to drive his car any longer. Some days were better than others, and Michael Keaton's Knox plays this to absolute perfection. When critics say that he gave a performance of a lifetime, they weren't kidding.
Losing my mind is one of my greatest fears, if not the number one. When you have dementia, you don't know you have dementia. The movie describes it in such a way where the person will forget a word, or a situation, immediately after it happens, but the emotion that is evoked does not disappear. Can you imagine feeling sad, or happy, or anxious, and you don't know why? That scares me. And it scares Knox. Watch his face, read his confusion, and I bet you'll feel as anxious as I did when you can't tell if he's there or not.
While the shadow of looming dementia is dark and powerful, the true genius is the last job Knox has to complete before it's too late. You'll be blown away as you wonder how much is real or not. I did not expect to cry throughout the film, but I couldn't help it. It's so painful to empathize with Knox, and then be reminded that he is a hitman and has killed lots of people over the course of his life.
I write about mental illness frequently, but this is a topic I have not explored. My condition can be treated with medication and I am living a full life, memories intact, and emotional responses under control. The level of dementia Knox feels is untreatable. Think about that when you notice your friends and family changing before your eyes.