Nicolas Cage, Chandler Canterbury, Rose Byrne, Adrienne Pickering, Ben Mendelsohn ...( see more  see more... ) , Terry Camilleri

A teacher (Cage) opens a time capsule that has been dug up at his son's elementary school; in it are some chilling predictions -- some that have already occurred and others that are about to -- that l...( read more  read more... )ead him to believe his family plays a role in the events that are about to unfold.

Flixster Users

50% liked it

397,238 ratings

Critics

33% liked it

160 critics

PG-13, 2 hr. 2 min.

Directed by: Alex Proyas

Release Date: March 20, 2009

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DVD Release Date: July 7, 2009

Stats: 35,504 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (35,504)


  • December 28, 2009
    Well Mr.Cage it is time to quit. The Movie was better a tiny bit better. I expected a disaster. Well a tiny bit of lack in acting and plot. It is such a shame Hollywood running out of Ideas.
  • December 12, 2009
    Am I missing something ? Ok the acting is abysmal and the plot predictable but it has two jaw dropping sequences and style oozing from every frame. It may lack originality ('Pi' covered similar number theories) but it at least feels fresh in its blend of apocalyptic paranoia and ...( read more)aliens. Better than 'they' say it is.
  • November 24, 2009
    OUAINNN !!! EEEE.... Quoi dire ??? Une histoire qui semble mélanger deux mondes, des effets spéciaux À CHIER! et un fin très ordinaire.

    Rien à dire de plus! C'est complètement n'importe quoi! Selon moi, ce n'était pas des dessins que les enfants avaient encapsulés, mais le scr...( read more)ipt de se film.

    Nicolas Cage à déjà mieux paru !
  • October 6, 2009
    PANTS!
  • October 5, 2009
    At some point in his career, perhaps just after the finish of Face/Off, I lost touch with NIcholas Cage. And he lost touch with me. He went from being one of my favorite actors to someone whose work I dread taking any kind of chance on seeing. It is with that same dread...( read more) that I rented this one. Much to my surprise, he has come back to himself in the movie.

    Not that this movie is spectacular. In fact, it's pretty ho-hum scifi. But Cage plays the kind of character in this one that I remember admiring him for a long time ago: he works within the script, allowing his character to drive him rather than vice-versa. In other words, he acts in this one, and he acts well. I don't know what caused him to become such an over-actor, but I'm glad he can still remember how he did it before and can still find that good acting within himself.

  • February 8, 2010
    This is an intense, dramatic film about depressing events. You have to have a strong heart to see this one, but it's good. I recommend it. :)
  • February 7, 2010
    sucked. absolutely horrible. Nic Cage must need some money to pay his debt. no reason why he should do anything like this again. Same director directed I, Robot. What a difference.
  • February 7, 2010
    Oh Nicholas Cage, how you have lost your badassness!
  • February 7, 2010
    So at the end was that the tree of life or the tree of knowledge?
  • February 7, 2010
    nice movie i liked most of ti but the ending was not just good for sorry but overall a great movie...

Critic Reviews


March 27, 2009
Nigel Andrews, The Financial Times

The slam-bang set pieces deliver. So, with his spooked features and breathy-orotund voice, does Cage. full review

March 23, 2009
Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com

If Alex Proyas' Knowing were reasonably entertaining -- instead of just dour, pointless and tedious -- it would be a camp classic. full review

March 20, 2009
Pete Hammond, Hollywood.com

An exciting , if not entirely plausible, sci-fi thriller. After this one, 'Next' and the 'National Treasure' movies star Nicolas Cage clearly likes 'Knowing' things before the rest of us. full review

March 20, 2009
Kurt Loder, MTV

A big creepy sci-fi thriller -- or two-thirds of one, anyway. full review

March 20, 2009
Kyle Smith, New York Post

The movie begins shameless, grows stupid and winds up silly. If the ending had less of the air of a crackpot religion and more pretentiousness, you could almost call it Shyamalanish. full review

March 20, 2009
A.O. Scott, The New York Times

The draggy, lurching two hours of Knowing will make you long for the end of the world, even as you worry that there will not be time for all your questions to be answered. full review

March 19, 2009
Claudia Puig, USA Today

If you're of a mind to believe a dreary and far-fetched thriller about numerology-crazed alien life forms, then you may find the movie mildly diverting. full review

March 19, 2009
Colin Covert, The Minneapolis Star Tribune

The resolution of the mysterious visitors' mission and John's crisis of faith feels more like an excuse to stage some hellacious cataclysms than the product of a genuine belief in anything at all. full review

March 19, 2009
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

A weird and gloomy existential thriller. full review

March 19, 2009
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Knowing is among the best science-fiction films I've seen -- frightening, suspenseful, intelligent and, when it needs to be, rather awesome. full review

View more Knowing reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


  • HeadlessChook16
    July 31, 2009
    It was a... weird movie. I don't really like Nicholas Cage and I didn't really like this movie. It kinda reminded me of the Simpsons episode when Homer thinks he has predicted the end of the world. I may watch it again but not for a while. Maybe If I can't remember what happened. And the cycle of confusion will begin again
  • jharhome123
    July 11, 2009
    This was a great movie if you believe in angels as our "beings" that overlook us "human beings". The universe is full of energy beings and the only way to try to explain this to humans is utilizing an outer space ship to transport us. You have to look at the movie in a different way. It is not destiny, however; all of human beings have a purpose and talents and the future time frames were that child's gift of "knowing". A must see if you open your mind.
  • rouida2001
    April 23, 2009
    Wowoooooooooooooooooo
  • bethelaw
    April 23, 2009
    kl movie but i expected more then that.. the things abt numbers and dates and location etc.. it was very good and mysterious.. i just didn't like the end :S .. it seems like something fantasy .... aliens .. i hate movies abt em ...
  • 4sauce4
    April 4, 2009
    A very good Nicolas Cage movie. One of the biggest reasons I went to see it was because of him. I love him and he is a great actor.
    Although I would like to talk about how Nicolas Cage has not aged very well and will not look good when his hair is gone, I must say the predictableness of the movie almost turned me away from it in the beginning.
    I'm normally good at reading movies anyway but this one was especially predictable.
    Not only were the commercials a big give-away but about half-way through the moive, the ending was easy to see.
    Despite the predictableness, the story itself was very sci-fi with a tough of fantasy in the whole number reading thing.
    (spoilers) It has a sad ending becuase everyone dies but lovable characters which the directers and writers used to make an easy tear-jerk at the end.
    It almost got me...almost. If I hadn't been so concerned with critisizing the movie, I would've been sucked in myself.
    All-in-all, I was moderately impressed but only
  • 4sauce4
    April 4, 2009
    because of the acting and feel of grief Nicolas gave off.
  • rosemissthing
    March 25, 2009
    this movie so sick i like it
    im n luv wit dat movie its to sick
  • liliecv1
    March 21, 2009
    wow it's all i can say :]
  • Rosepetal75
    March 20, 2009
    Astrophysics Professor John Koestler (Nicolas Cage) teaches students at MIT & Phil Beckman (Ben Mendelsohn) is a Cosmologist work @ Massachusetts Observatory in Wayford, Massachusetts.

    Diana Wayford (Rose Byrne) is the Daughter & Abby Wayford (Lara Robinson) is the Granddaughter of decreased Author Lucinda Embry-Wayford (Lara Robinson) who wrote encoded numbers in 1959 put in time capsule for 50 years earlier in 2009.

    http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090318/REVIEWS/903189991
  • Rosepetal75
    March 2, 2009
    In 1958, The dedication ceremony for a new elementary school, A group of students drawing of the future in a time capsule is buried on the grounds & scheduled to be unearthed on the school's 50th Anniversary. A mysterious girl scribbles a series of random sequence numbers instead drawing on her paper to put in time capsule before it is buried. 50 years later, 1 of those students named young Caleb Koestler (Chandler Canterbury) opens the letter with the mysterious sequence of numbers falling into his possession when he hands it to his father, Professor John Koestler (Nicolas Cage) to study statistic analyzes pinpoint cryptic numbers are encoded message the precise dates, death tolls, & coordinates of every major disaster since the time capsule was buried. Professor Koestler is able to track down Author of the prophecies' Daughter: Diana Wayland (Rose Byrne), & Granddaughter Abby agree to aid in the investigation to prevent destruction on a global scale.

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Knowing Trivia


  • In what movie did Johnny Depp go crazy without knowing it?  Answer »
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