"Knock at the Cabin" - Film Review
M. Night Shyamalan’s filmography has long been interested in the grander ideas of faith and beliefs. They’re most notably at play in Signs and The Village, where the main characters are asked to believe impossible things. Knock at the Cabin (adapted from Paul G. Tremblay’s The Cabin at the End of the World) is a logical next step for Shyamalan’s exploration of what it means to have blind faith and a conviction in things that are inexplicable. The characters in his newest film are forced to reckon with the apocalypse.
Eric (Jonathan Groff), Andrew (Ben Aldridge), and their daughter Wen (Kristen Cui) are relaxing at a remote Airbnb somewhere in Pennsylvania. Their trip is cut short when four people (Dave Bautista, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Abby Quinn, and Rupert Grint) knock at the cabin door with an unfortunate mission for the family. The apocalypse is imminent, but it is stoppable and the fate of the world lies in the hands of Eric, Andrew, and Wen. They must willingly sacrifice one member of their family to save humanity. Eric and Andrew believe this must be a premeditated homophobic attack or a home invasion, but that belief is called into question as inexplicable events keep piling up.
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As with any Shyamalan film, all anyone wants to talk about is the twist. It’s a curse that’s followed him since The Sixth Sense. Audiences come into each of his films fully expecting there to be a third act audible that brings the entire film into focus. Some of his films have been more successful at pulling this off than others (I’m talking to you, The Happening). Audiences can rest assured, knowing that Knock at the Cabin does indeed swing for the fences, but it’s nowhere near a home run.
That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with the source material or the premise. On paper, it’s laughable to think about a group of people believing they were called by some higher power through online message boards to force a family to sacrifice one of its own, but reality is stranger than fiction. Especially now, when we’re living at what may prove to be the peak of the age of misinformation. The premise has real-world potential in a way that can make your skin crawl. You want to laugh it off, but how is it any different than Flat Earth or Chemtrails? Knock at the Cabin is just a violent, bloody personification of the power of persuasion.
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The desire to search for meaning is inherently human. It’s what leads people down these paths, but it’s not something that Shyamalan seemed particularly interested in examining. There was so much potential for conflict within Knock at the Cabin, especially between Eric and Andrew. It’s a plot point that’s teased slightly toward the end of the film, but the movie would have been much stronger had it placed the tension of belief between Eric and Andrew. Have them be at odds about whether or not this is true. There are enough breadcrumbs (or coincidences if you’re a nonbeliever) throughout to keep the audience wondering if the apocalypse really is right around the corner. Trade in some of the gore for good, old-fashioned conversation about life, meaning, and faith instead of the same repeated exclamations from Andrew about wanting to be let free.
Knock at the Cabin is an extended stay with long stretches of nothingness. Most surprisingly, the draw of the film is Bautista as the violent group’s pseudo leader. He first made a name for himself as a wrestler, and has since been trapped in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a comedic punching bag. Knock at the Cabin gives Bautista a chance to really go for it acting-wise. Shyamalan granted him the space to play this conflicted, multi-dimensional character and Bautista was more than prepared for the challenge. He was surprisingly graceful and gentle, garnering more sympathy than one would have assumed prior to viewing. Groff is similarly compelling. It’s his last-act speech that finally tugs at the audience’s heart and expresses the movie’s only sincere moment.
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Knock at the Cabin should have been a short film. In its current form, Shyamalan simply cannot stretch the tension to make the runtime purposeful. The film’s length isn’t even particularly egregious, but with the lack of character development, it still can’t justify itself. Knock at the Cabin is middle-of-the-road fare for Shyamalan. It doesn’t reach his directorial heights, but is well above his lows. If nothing else, it’s still refreshing to see a director consistently swinging for the fences.
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