History Film / Knowing

* RuleOfSymbolism: Practically the whole [[IncrediblyLamePun damned]] movie, but that woodblock print marked ''Ezekiel I'' isn't just for show. [[spoiler:Also, the ending turns this into an AdamAndEvePlot.]]

* ApocalypseHow: [[spoiler:A Class 6. Scientists were predicting the flare to wipe out all life through radiation, but it simply burns Earth into a rocky, airless wasteland.]]

* FaceDeathWithDignity: Cage and his family chose to spend their last moments in meaningful, loving embrace rather than futile panic.

* LectureAsExposition: This is probably the reason Cage's character is a college professor.

* RevolversAreForAmateurs: Nicholas Cage's character decides he needs a gun, and appears very inexperienced, to the point of methodically reading the manual, and then proceeding to run around with his finger on the trigger, in direct violation of the many, many safety warnings in the manual.

* ShootTheShaggyDog: One of the biggest criticisms against the movie was that [[spoiler:all of Nicolas Cage's actions amount to zilch in the end.]] For all the good knowing the future did, he could have banged the hot leading lady and smoked a cigarette [[spoiler:as the aliens took the kids and the world fried.]]

* ImprobableInfantSurvival: [[spoiler:While ''all the other children'' on the planet presumably die, the only two kids who receive significant screen time, Abby and Caleb, survive the literal end of the world.]]

* ChekhovsGun: The [[spoiler:solar flares]] are mentioned early on - on the TV...

* IdenticalGranddaughter: Lucinda and Abby bear stark resemblances to each other, even in 2009, [[PlayingForTwo as dictated by Lara Robinson being cast for both roles.]]

* EarthShatteringKaboom: [[spoiler:Closer to Earth Boiling Ka-boom, but hey. It's pretty much the same result - Earth ends up a burned out, lifeless husk with no atmosphere.]]

* IdenticalGranddaughter: Lucinda and Abby bear stark resemblances to each other, even in 2009.

* KillEmAll: [[spoiler:Almost.]] [[spoiler:"ƎƎ. ''Everyone else''."]]

* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: Through the whole film, [[spoiler: the angels/aliens]] appear as humans... [[UncannyValley or at least try to.]] At the end of the film, they reveal their true form.

*** While stuck in traffic, he works out that he's on the exact co-ordinates of the next disaster. He gets out of his car and walks to where the hold-up is; a stalled ''[[OhCrap LPG tanker]]''. Just when you're wondering how he's ever going to survive when the tanker explodes, [[spoiler:[[UpToEleven a passenger airliner falls out of the sky behind him]].]]

* ApocalypseHow: [[spoiler:A Class 6. Scientists were predicting the flare to wipe out all life through radiation, but it simply burns Earth into a rocky, airless wasteland]]

* ArtisticLicensePhysics: A commuter train [[spoiler:derails and crashes for LITERALLY a full minute despite losing power as soon as it derails. Even worse, it obliterates numerous concrete columns and other trains like itself, yet somehow is only slightly damaged, compared to the carnage it causes. The reality is it would stop within a few feet after derailing and probably wouldn’t even make it into the station.]]

* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: [[spoiler:Diana]] drives a stolen car through a red light to be able to catch up to the "kidnappers" of the children, gets hit by a truck, and dies.

* CosmicHorrorStory: The aliens are completely inscrutable in their reasons, their decision [[spoiler: to only save kids]] sounds creepier than it should be, their information has already driven one poor woman to madness, they are unstoppable, and [[spoiler: the world ends]] in a way that is inescapable and utterly savage -- a way that these aliens saw coming from many decades prior and did nothing about (other than give an incredibly vague warning that was utterly useless and depending on the audience's interpretation they may believe they even ''caused'' it), which again makes their decisions look even more inhuman.
* CreepyChild: Lucinda.

* {{Flatline}}: For [[spoiler:Diana]], apparently caused by the MagicalDefibrillator.

* GainaxEnding: To say the ending is confusing is a vast understatement.

* IdenticalGranddaughter: Lucinda and Abby.

* LookBothWays: Diana overlooking the truck.

* MeaningfulName: Lucinda Embry bears remarkable similarity to the words 'lucid ember', another early allusion to [[spoiler: the Earth burning to a crisp]].

* OhCrap: As John and Diana would discover, [[spoiler:EE means '''Everyone Else'''.]]

* OneDialogueTwoConversations: [[spoiler: "This isn't the end, son." "I know." John's father believes that there will be an afterlife, John knows that humanity will survive elsewhere.]]
* OurAngelsAreDifferent: It's not clear whether [[spoiler:the "whisperer people" are angels, aliens or both. They have spaceships like aliens, and in one scene the wispy light around their bodies looks like wings, like angels. (Also the movie hints the final event is the second coming of Christ.) Whatever they are, they act creepy, mysterious, and threatening. They speak in whispers as their child given name implies, shoot light out of their mouths and tell of future events.]]

--> '''John''': I thought there was some purpose to all this. Why did I get this prediction if there's nothing I can do about it? How am I supposed to stop [[spoiler: the end of the world]]?

* ThroatLight: The luminescent aliens.

* CosmicHorrorStory: The aliens are completely inscrutable in their reasons, their decision to only save kids sounds creepier than it should be, their information has already driven one poor woman to madness, they are unstoppable, and the world ends in a way that is inescapable and utterly savage -- a way that these aliens saw coming from many decades prior and did nothing about (other than give an incredibly vague warning that was utterly useless and depending on the audience's interpretation they may believe they even ''caused'' it), which again makes their decisions look even more inhuman.

* BittersweetEnding: Straddles the line with a full on DownerEnding. [[spoiler:The Earth is wiped completely clean of life when the solar flare ignites the atmosphere, though its indicated that humanity will continue on a different world through the children collected by the aliens]].

* ArtisticLicenseAstronomy: [[spoiler: Multiple scientists took umbrage with the fact that solar flares in real life do not work even remotely the way they do in the movie, as even the most powerful flares don't possess the strength to penetrate the magnetosphere, let alone the atmosphere (which is actually quite thick). Once scientist even compared the destruction of Earth to a "cosmic ray gun".]]

* EarthShatteringKaboom: [[spoiler:Closer to Earth Boiling Ka-boom, but hey. It's pretty much the same result - Earth ends up a burned out, lifeless husk with no atmosphere.]]

* {{Flatline}}: For [[spoiler:Diane]], apparently caused by the MagicalDefibrillator.

* ArtisticLicensePhysics: A commuter train [[spoiler: derails and crashes for LITERALLY a full minute despite losing power as soon as it derails. Even worse, it obliterates numerous concrete columns and other trains like itself, yet somehow is only slightly damaged, compared to the carnage it causes. The reality is it would stop within a few feet after derailing and probably wouldn’t even make it into the station. ]]

* MagicalDefibrillator: A weird version of this. The EKG is clearly showing v-fib (i.e. the thing you actually want to defibrillate) and the EMT administers defib, which correctly stops the heart. This, however, surprises the EMT somewhat, causing them to call the time of death without even attempting CPR.

* NeverTrustATrailer: The trailers made the movie sound like a story about a man trying to find out whether the future was fixed or if he could save people from the predicted disasters. Instead we got a lot of running around just to meet [[spoiler: an alien Noah]]. The poster made it pretty clear in hindsight that the Earth would end up set on fire, though.
* OhCrap: As John and Diana would discover, [[spoiler: EE means '''Everyone Else'''.]]

* RedHerring:

* PoorCommunicationKills: The only reason there's a plot at all is that the aliens[=/=]angels[=/=]whatever the hell they are were unable or unwilling to just tell everyone what was going to happen in plain English. Hell, even plain Latin or plain Ancient Egyptian would have been a sight more helpful than what the protagonist had to work with. Makes one wonder about their motives, really...

* ShootTheShaggyDog: One of the biggest criticisms against the movie was that [[spoiler: all of Nicolas Cage's actions amount to zilch in the end.]] For all the good knowing the future did, he could have banged the hot leading lady and smoked a cigarette [[spoiler:as the aliens took the kids and the world fried.]]

* ArtisticLicensePhysics: A commuter train [[spoiler: derails and crashes for LITERALLY a full minute despite losing power as soon as it derails. Even worse, it obliterates numerous concrete columns and other trains like itself, yet somehow is only slightly damaged, relatively to the carnage it causes. The reality is it would stop within a few feet after derailing and probably wouldn’t even make it into the station. ]]

* DramaticShattering: After going through the list of numbers and their respective fatal disasters, John eventually comes to the end of the list, and realizes that the next date of disaster is 10/27/08, which is a ''future'' date; tomorrow. He drops his glass in shock when he realizes the implications.

** It appears John's car was destroyed in [[spoiler:the plane crash]] but later he is shown driving the same car.

* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: Through the whole film, [[spoiler: the angels/aliens appear as humans. At the end of the film, they reveal their true form.]]

** Played straight every time Nicolas Cage wants to stop a disaster from happening.
** The numbers say that people will die in New York and the movie mentions how people in New York are scared about a possible terrorist attack. Cage goes to the place where the attack will take place and sees a weird looking guy and chases him thinking he is a terrorist. Turns out [[spoiler:the guy was stealing [=CDs=], and then seconds later ''a subway train crashes'' and kills people like the numbers predicted.]]
** While stuck in traffic, Nicolas Cage works out that he's on the exact co-ordinates of the next disaster. He gets out of his car and walks to where the hold-up is; a stalled ''[[OhCrap LPG tanker]]''. Just when you're wondering how he's ever going to survive when the tanker explodes, [[spoiler:[[UpToEleven a passenger airliner falls out of the sky behind him]].]]