Ana de Armas is set to star in the ‘John Wick’ spin-off ‘Ballerina’, but she and Keanu Reeves once starred together in something completely different.

Image by Annamaria Ward

In 2015, Keanu Reeves‘ career was on a big upswing. There had been a period of time in the 2000s when his career had sputtered a bit with a series of underwhelming films. The public’s love for Reeves hadn’t ceased at all, but his star power looked to be on the decline. Then came John Wick in 2014, a film that at first looked to be a case of another aging star in a shoot ’em up action movie, but turned out to be so much more. It was a challenge for Reeves, but perhaps his ultimate challenge would come the following year with his next film, Knock Knock, co-starring fellow Ana de Armas — who is set to appear in the 2025 John Wick-universe film Ballerina.

Knock Knock

RThriller

A devoted husband and father helps two stranded young women who knock on his door, but his kind gesture turns into a dangerous seduction and a deadly game of cat and mouse.

Release DateJune 26, 2015DirectorEli RothCastKeanu Reeves , Lorenza Izzo , Ana De Armas , Aaron Burns , Ignacia Allamand , Dan BailyRuntime96Main GenreThrillerStudioLionsgate PremiereKeanu Reeves and Ana de Armas Are Two of the Most Notable Movie Stars Today

Keanu Reeves is the most loved movie star in the country. It’s hard to argue against such a statement. The actor is enjoying his greatest success, thanks to the popular John Wick films, but he’s frequently in the news for his kindhearted acts, which only further endears him to fans. He’s the epitome of the cool, nice guy, with his Hollywood status not having gone to his head.

Then there’s Ana de Armas, an actress who has become one of the biggest stars in the world thanks to a string of hits from a lead role in Knives Out, a small but unforgettable appearance again with Daniel Craig in No Time to Die, and an Academy Award nomination worthy performance in Blonde. Her upward trajectory looks to continue as the lead in Ballerina, a film set in the John Wick universe. De Armas hasn’t been in a John Wick film before, but the character she will play has. In John Wick 3: Chapter 3 – Parbellum, the Ballerina was played by Unity Phelan in a small role as a killer named Rooney. Ballerina will put Keanu Reeves and Ana de Armas together, but, as mentioned above, it won’t be the first time that the two stars have worked on a film with each other.

‘Knock Knock’ Challenged Both Keanu Reeves & Ana de Armas

While Keanu Reeves was one of the biggest names on the planet in 2015, Ana de Armas was not. It would be two more years before she really broke out in Blade Runner 2049, but here she landed her first significant mainstream role. Together, they would team up to work with horror director Eli Roth, who was known for Cabin Fever, the Hostel films, and The Green Inferno. Though Knock Knock would be more thriller than straight-up horror, it was still a genre Reeves and de Armas didn’t have much experience in. Reeves had been in horror adjacent fare like Constantine and The Day the Earth Stood Still, but film fans still looked at him as the hero thanks to characters like Ted Logan from the Bill & Ted films, Neo from The Matrix, and John Wick.

The John Wick Star Gave Us a Different Kind of Character in ‘Knock Knock’‘John Wick’s Best Action Sequence Is a Cut Above the Rest

In Knock Knock, Reeves still played the hero, but one who wasn’t so morally good. The premise of the film is effective in its simpleness. A remake of the 1978 film Death Game, Roth not only directed but wrote this new adaptation, which sees Reeves play a man named Evan Webber. Webber is a successful architect living in a rather big house with large windows looking out onto his equally impressive yard. He’s also a married man with two kids. His family has a trip planned, but an injury means he can’t go, so he stays home alone. That night, there is a knock at the door. Webber answers to find two beautiful young women, Bell (de Armas) and Genesis (Lorenza Izzo) standing there in the rain. They’re lost, and being the nice guy that a Keanu Reeves character would be, he invites them in so they can get out of the weather and even orders an Uber for them. Then comes the inciting act. Bell and Genesis don’t want to leave. They flirt with Evan, and he even finds them naked together. He’s uncomfortable, and as they come on to him, we wait for him to tell them no, to kick them out. That’s what Ted Logan, Neo, and John Wick would do. But not Evan Webber. He gives in to temptation and has sex with them, thus cheating on his wife.

It’s an interesting character for Reeves to play. He was so accustomed to being the hero, whether it be action or comedy, that to see him be a man who would cheat on his wife makes us feel icky. That’s the point. Roth could have chosen any actor and had them do the same thing, and we’d buy it because, well, unfortunately, so many men cheat. But not Keanu, we say. Keanu would never do that! So now Roth is asking the question, how do you look at a hero who has done wrong?

It’s not as if Reeves hadn’t played the villain before. He was a killer in both 2000s The Gift and The Watcher. Those movies, however, came out long before he became an actor idolized on the level of Betty White. Can you imagine Keanu Reeves playing an evil serial killer now? It’s probably not something audiences would feel comfortable with. Knock Knock puts him in an intereresting in between spot. Evan is not evil, but he’s no saint either.

Ana de Armas Shocked Those Who Didn’t Know Who She Was in ‘Knock Knock’

Image via Lionsgate Premiere

There’s already enough of a story here, but then things really go off the rails when Bell and Genesis refuse to leave the next day and even tear up Evan’s home. He begs them to leave, and finally gets them to let him take them home, but the nightmare isn’t over. The two return, breaking in, and attack Evan, leaving him unconscious. In a creepy scene that turns the table on conventions, de Armas’ character rapes Evan. De Armas has never been shy about showing off her body or sexuality in her films, from her earliest roles before Knock Knock, to films like Blade Runner 2049 and Blonde. In the latter two examples, De Armas is a protagonist, whether as the very real and troubled Marilyn Monroe, or the not so real but loving computer program Joi. Here, however, she uses her looks for villainous means, betraying the innocent good girl image that got her inside Evan’s house to begin with.

Throughout the film, Bell and Genesis threaten to tell Evan’s wife about what they did. They lie about being under 18 in an effort to scare him further. When a friend arrives at the house and dies, the girls make it look like Evan was responsible. They beat Evan, tell him that they’ve killed other men, and in the morning, before they leave, take Evan outside and bury him up to his neck. They then upload a video of them together to the internet, laughing at what they’ve done, admitting that it was all a game and that they meant no true physical harm to him. They have created their own horror, but more horror is yet to come when Evan’s wife gets home.

How Does ‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ Set Up Ana de Armas’ ‘Ballerina’ Spinoff?

The upcoming movie will explore the Ruska Roma crime family.

While Knock Knock didn’t the set the world on fire, with many deciding that it didn’t go far enough as a home invasion flick, it did go far enough for Keanu Reeves and Ana de Armas. It showed audiences that their hero could still shock us with his character choices. It showed audiences who Ana de Armas was, letting her run the gamut between girl next door to completely nuts. Ballerina is sure to be a crazy good time, filled with loads of action and violence. Still, no matter what Keanu Reeves and Ana de Armas do in that film, nothing will match the intense, over-the-top insanity of Knock Knock.

Knock Knock is currently available to stream on Tubi in the U.S.