Knock, Knock

Year

2023

Length

22:50 min

Genre

Black comedy

Language

German

Specs

DCI 4K / Colour

Country of production

DE

Production

Plotlessfilm GbR

Synopsis

An ambitious aspiring con artist discovers during his final test that no amount of training can prepare him for a birthday party hosted by Frankfurt's aristocratic families.

On his last day of training, a young con artist apprentice goes door to door with his mentor in Frankfurt am Main, dressed in costume and swindling money out of his unsuspecting victims' drawers. When he arrives at the last house and thus the final test, Huey has to prove himself for the first time without his grey-haired partner Jennifer: it's all or nothing! Disguised as a technician from an internet company, the already nervous Huey finds himself confronted not only with one victim, but with an entire birthday party. Nothing goes as planned in the glamorous villa, and things only get worse for the young con artist. Between a growing family feud among the old aristocratic birthday party guests, scheming siblings and his own clumsiness, everything gradually goes wrong for Huey. In a humorous, bizarre manner, Huey is thrown through the events in the house and, in the finale, throws his last shred of morality out the window during the showdown with an eight-year-old girl. In the end, Huey must save not only himself but, above all, his hard-earned loot from a hail of flying champagne bottles in a big family brawl.

Crew

Director Julian Gerchow

Screenplay Julian Gerchow & Dascha Petuchow

Producer Maximilian Hasenstab, Julian Gerchow

Cinematography Jonas Umland

Editing Victor Haselmayer

Production design Ann-Kristin Büttner

Costume design Alina Böhmer

Film music Maximilian Zinke

Sound design Robin Harff

Production manager Maximilian Hasenstab

Cast

Huey Valentino Dalle Mura

Jennifer Anna Steffens

Jodie Ela Cosen

Franziska Stella Manchini

George Ben Plunkett-Reynolds

Gerald Imanuel Humm

Bernd Wolfgang Vogler

Lukas Max Böttcher

Lisa Lena-Katharina Merle

Young Girl Lotta Herzog

Funding/ Festivals/ Awards

Funding Hessen Film & Media, Kulturmut, Aventis Foundation

Festivals 34th International Film Festival Emden, B3 Festival of the Moving Image, 37th Exground Filmfest, 36th Aguilar Film Festival, 25th Landshut Short Film Festival