The Keanu Reeves thriller critics called campy just landed on HBO Max

Out of nowhere, the slightly notorious Knock Knock — a chaotic mix of home-invasion horror, dark comedy, and, let’s be honest, pure camp — has finally landed on HBO Max as of 30 August 2026. If you missed it back in its cinema days, or you just want to watch Keanu Reeves make some truly terrible life choices, now’s your chance. Directed by Eli Roth (a man never afraid to go over the top), it’s the sort of film that picked up a cult following for all the wrong and right reasons.

Knock Knock began streaming on HBO Max on 30 August 2026, over a decade after its original release.

Originally hitting screens in 2015, Knock Knock is best known as the movie where a very wholesome Keanu invites two women, played by Ana de Armas and Lorenza Izzo, in out of the rain — only for the situation to spiral wildly out of control. Put it this way: it’s one of those “don’t open your front door for strangers” warnings dressed up as an erotic, psychological thriller remix. Eli Roth didn’t exactly invent the wheel here; it’s actually a remake of Death Game (1977), though Roth piles on extra menace and the sort of wild tonal lurches only he can really get away with.

The Carnage Begins

So here’s the setup: Keanu’s character Evan Webber is left home alone, his wife and kids off on a holiday. He’s just meant to be catching up on some work and sorting his dodgy back. Enter Bel and Genesis (de Armas and Izzo), two young women claiming to be rained out, who ring the bell and charm their way inside. Things escalate rather quickly into psychological torment territory — what starts as a kind gesture for two seemingly stranded women rapidly unravels into a mad “cat-and-mouse” game that, by all accounts, leaves Evan regretting every bit of it.

Roth’s version dances about in tone: at times it’s properly disturbing, at others it pushes so hard into melodrama you couldn’t help but chuckle. Some critics actually insisted the film is as much dark comedy as thriller, bordering on full-blown satire when it fancies trying to be clever. Depending who you ask, it’s an erotic thriller, a psychological horror, a black comedy — or an ill-advised mash-up of all three.

Reception: Not Exactly a Triumph

Expectations for a Keanu Reeves and Ana de Armas pairing probably weren’t aiming for ‘cult oddity’, but the critics weren’t impressed: Knock Knock sits at a rather embarrassing 37% on Rotten Tomatoes (the audience weren’t that forgiving either, coughing up a hilariously low 19% on the Popcorn score). The box office wasn’t much rosier — the film struggled, making only around $6.3 million from a supposed $10 million budget. That said, there’s an argument that its failings are exactly what’s given it a sort of midnight-movie afterlife, especially among fans of Reeves and de Armas before either was quite as stratospherically famous as they are now.

Alongside the central trio, the film also features Aaron Burns, Ignacia Allamand, and Colleen Camp. Allamand turns up as Evan’s unfortunate wife; Burns is her assistant; Camp appears as Evan’s physical therapist, who’s fairly quick to suspect something’s up (and then leaves, possibly the only character in the film with any sense).