KNOCK DOWN THE HOUSE
Netflix Documentary · 2019
99% on Rotten Tomatoes
103 reviews · Sundance Audience Award & Festival Favorite
Composer Ryan Blotnick had a clear mandate from the filmmakers: no MIDI samples. They wanted a live chamber group sound — real instruments, real players, real rooms. Blotnick assembled a small ensemble of strings, woodwinds, keys, and bass, and the sessions were split between Sauce Farm Studio and NRS Recording in Catskill, NY.
Scott played contrabass on the score and served as additional recording engineer at NRS, helping capture the intimate, acoustic performances that underpin the film's emotional arc.
Musicians
THE ENSEMBLE
The chamber group featured two cellos (Jane Scarpantoni and Garo Yellin), violin (Jonathan Talbott), clarinet and bass clarinet (Sam Sadigursky), piano and keyboards (Tyler Wood), with Blotnick on guitar and synths. Chris Bear of Grizzly Bear contributed drums on one track.
The only licensed song in the entire film is Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings' cover of "This Land Is Your Land," which plays over the closing moments. Everything else — every emotional beat, every moment of tension and triumph across 87 minutes — is carried by the original score and the musicians who performed it.
Reviews
THE SOUND
Factual America noted in their review that the music "supports the emotional tone of key scenes, whether to underscore a victory or a setback," adding depth "without resorting to unnecessary dramatization."
A fresh-sounding combination of rollicking tracks and dark ambient moods that bring back the emotional weight of this powerful and timely story.
The soundtrack was released on Milan Records and is available in 24-bit/96kHz on Bandcamp.
Soundtrack
LISTEN TO THE SCORE
Background
ABOUT THE FILM
When director Rachel Lears set out to follow four working-class women challenging political incumbents in the 2018 congressional primaries, nobody knew she was about to capture one of the most shocking upsets in modern American politics. One of her subjects was a 28-year-old bartender from the Bronx named Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
The resulting documentary premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival where it won both the Audience Award and the Festival Favorite Award. Netflix acquired it for $10 million — the largest documentary sale ever brokered at a film festival — and released it globally on May 1, 2019. It went on to earn a 99% score on Rotten Tomatoes from 103 critics.
Production
CREDITS & DETAILS
Awards
- Sundance Audience Award: U.S. Documentary (2019)
- Sundance Festival Favorite Award (2019)
- Official selections at SXSW, True/False, Full Frame, Athena, and Hot Docs
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