‘I did that so you wouldn’t run away…’
Cast aside by the Hollywood studio system, M. Night Shyamalan has been self-financing his films for years now, and he has done this to great success. Indeed, the horror maestro remortgaged his house to finance his latest project – Knock at the Cabin. The key to his success, other than his obvious competence, is that he is a great concepts man. All his films make for a great elevator pitch, whether that be ‘kid can see ghosts’ or ‘murderer with multiple split personalities’, and Knock at the Cabin follows in that grand tradition. On this occasion, the pitch is ‘would you kill a family member to save humanity?’. And again, it’s intriguing…
Lovers Eric (Jonathan Groff) and Andrew (Ben Aldridge) rent a cabin in the woods for a family holiday with their adopted daughter Wen (Kristen Cui). Things quickly go south when four mysterious strangers knock on their door. Leonard (Dave Bautista), a gentle giant packed into a tiny white shirt, appears to be the leader of the group and he is joined by caring nurse Sabrina (Nikki Amuka-Bird), nervous people pleaser Adriane (Abby Quinn) and impatient asshat Redmond (Rupert Grint). Together, this unlikely bunch inform Eric and Andrew that one of them must be sacrificed or the world will end. A tough sell. And a terrible start to a holiday if I may say so.
Knock at the Cabin is a strange film tonally. It’s been marketed as a horror film, but it isn’t that really. It has horrifying moments, but much of the horror is implied, despite the R rating. Shot during covid, the whole film takes place in one location save for a few well-placed flashbacks, and despite the single location premise, Shyamalan’s latest never really drags. The issue is that it isn’t as profound as the director or his cowriters Steve Desmond and Michael Sherman think it is, and the exposition dumps toward the end of the film spell things out in a way that is unnecessary and distracting.
Having said that, the cast does a great job with a convincingly human and compassionate Bautista continuing his hot streak with a performance that marks a departure from his usual fare, and both Groff and Aldridge fully selling their coupledom. It is newcomer Kristen Cui that really steals the show, however, with a performance that belies her tender years being both assured and authentic. Elsewhere, regular Shyamalan collaborator Rupert Grint is an absolute pleasure as always playing that one grumpy dickhead character he always plays. As something of a grumpy dickhead myself, I always enjoy his appearances and this one is no different.
Knock at the Cabin doesn’t quite foster the lingering sense of dread that it aims for, but its darker moments pack a real punch and the concept is strong enough, and the acting solid enough, to justify 100 minutes of anyone’s time. A solid entry into the Shyamalan oeuvre.