History Film / Knowing

* SeparatedAtBirthCasting: Lara Robinson and Rose Byrne have such an uncanny resemblance that you'd be forgiven for thinking that they're related in real life. In fact the resemblance is so strong that Robinson plays young Lucinda in the 1959 flashback, Abby, and a young Diana in a photograph. Rose Byrne also plays Diana and an older Lucinda via photographs.

** It appears John's car was destroyed in [[spoiler: the plane crash]] but later he is shown driving the same car.
** 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]].]]
** The design of the Whisper People is deliberately sinister. Their similarity in appearance to The Strangers from ''Film/DarkCity'' (also directed by Alex Proyas) cannot possibly be a coincidence.

* NoAntagonist: Even the {{Evil Albino}}s turn out to be benevolent angels/aliens.

* EvilAlbino:
** The [[spoiler:aliens]] disguise themselves as a group of albino men in raincoats.
** Subverted with the cute albino bunnies that do not turn into {{Killer Rabbit}}s.

''Knowing'' is a 2009 ScienceFiction / DisasterMovie starring Creator/NicolasCage and Creator/BenMendehlson and directed by Creator/AlexProyas.

''Knowing'' is a 2009 ScienceFiction / DisasterMovie starring Creator/NicolasCage and directed by Creator/AlexProyas.

* 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. [[spoiler:They speak in whispers as their child given name implies, shoot light out of their mouths and tell of future events.]]

** 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. Turn out [[spoiler:the guy was stealing CDs, and then seconds later ''a subway train crashes'' and kills people like the numbers predicted.]]

* 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 no flares 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".]]

* 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 no flares possess the strength to penetrate the magnetic sphere, let alone the atmosphere (which is actually quite thick). Once scientist even compared the destruction of Earth to a "cosmic ray gun".]]

* ArtisticLisence:Astronomy: [[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 no flares possess the strength to penetrate the magnetic sphere, let alone the atmosphere (which is actually quite thick). Once scientist even compared the destruction of Earth to a "cosmic ray gun".]]

* ArtisticLisenceAstronomy: [[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 no flares possess the strength to penetrate the magnetic sphere, let alone the atmosphere (which is actually quite thick). Once scientist even compared the destruction of Earth to a "cosmic ray gun".]]

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

** 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. Turn out [[spoiler:the guy was stealing disks and then the train immediately malfunctions and kills people like the numbers predicted.]]

* 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), which again makes their decisions look even more inhuman.

%%* CosmicHorrorStory

%%* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt

%%* IfJesusThenAliens: [[spoiler:All but literally.]]

* McGuffin: The black stones that apparently came from the place where the ship was stationed.

* 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]].

* 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.
* ChildrenAreInnocent: Played straight, especially when [[spoiler: it's mostly kids who hear the call of the angel/alien things to leave earth]].
* CosmicHorrorStory

* EndingTropes:
** ApocalypseHow: [[spoiler: A Total Planetary Extinction. Scientists were predicting the flare to wipe out all life through radiation, but it simply burns Earth into a rocky, airless wasteland]]
** ApocalypseWow: [[spoiler: The shot of New York being enveloped by a wall of fire easily gives the similar scene in ''Film/IndependenceDay'' a run for its money.]]
** DownerEnding: Borderline.
** 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.]]
** GainaxEnding: To say the ending is confusing is a vast understatement.
** KillEmAll: [[spoiler: Almost.]]
*** [[spoiler: "ƎƎ. ''Everyone else''."]]
** TwistEnding: [[spoiler: AdamAndEvePlot: Judging by the multiple ships we see, it seems like several couples of Adams and Eves in fact.]]
* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt
* EnergyBeings: [[spoiler: It's never made clear if they were aliens or angels (given their ability to predict the future with great precision)]].
* EvilAlbino: The [[spoiler:aliens]] disguise themselves as a group of albino men in raincoats.

* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: Through the whole film, [[spoiler: the angels/aliens appear as humans. At the end of the film, they reveal their true form.]] Played with a bit, as they're [[UncannyValley not very successful at the "comfortable" part.]]

* IfJesusThenAliens: [[spoiler: All but literally.]]

* [[spoiler:[[OurAngelsAreDifferent Our Angels/Aliens/(Whatever They Are) Are Different:]] it's not clear whether 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. [[spoiler:They speak in whispers as their child given name implies, shoot light out of their mouths and tell of future events.]]
* RedHerring: Played straight every time Nicolas Cage wants to stop a disaster from happening.

** 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]].]]
** Also, as detailed above, the design of the Whisper People is deliberately sinister. Their similarity in appearance to The Strangers from ''Film/DarkCity'' (also directed by Alex Proyas) cannot possibly be a coincidence.
** 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. Turn out[[spoiler: the guy was stealing disks and then the train immediately malfunctions and kills people like the numbers predicted.]]

* 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.]]
* ScareChord: As if the ''whole soundtrack'' wasn't creepy. See SoundtrackDissonance below.
* ScienceHero: Dr. John Koestler
* ShootTheShaggyDog[=/=]YouCannotFightFate: 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.]]

* [[spoiler: SolarFlareDisaster: How the world is destroyed in the end.]]

** GainaxEnding: Just see the PlotHole section below to see just how confusing it is.

* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: Through the whole film, [[spoiler: the angels/aliens appear as humans. At the end of the film, they reveal their true form.]] Played with a bit, as they're [[UncannyValley not very successful at the "comfortable" part.]]

* CaliforniaDoubling: Or, more accurately, Australia Doubling; most of the movie was shot in and around Melbourne.

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/knowing2009.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Are there things man is not meant to know?]]

'''''Knowing''''' is a 2009 ScienceFiction / DisasterMovie starring Creator/NicolasCage and directed by Creator/AlexProyas.

[[quoteright:243:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/knowing-001_7248.png]]
[[caption-width-right:243: Are there things man is not meant to know?]]

'''''Knowing''''' is a 2009 ScienceFiction / DisasterMovie starring NicolasCage and directed by Creator/AlexProyas.