Knock at the Cabin (2023)

[Eric Loves Rey]

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[Webslinger]

Knock at the Cabin continues M. Night Shyamalan’s recent run of smaller, more intimate films with intriguing concepts, and it does so effectively. Though it has some issues with relatively limited character development and a few moments that might not have been entirely intended as humorous, it’s a mostly compelling meditation on family and sacrifice, and it feels like Shyamalan’s most narratively steady film in many years. At numerous points, Shyamalan makes decisions about character choices and tone that feel like they are consciously avoiding the mistakes that brought some of his earlier work down. The tension stays high throughout the running time, and the committed work from the actors helps to sell the quandaries at the center of the narrative. The cast standout is Dave Bautista as the leader of the cabin invaders, whose soulful work captures how tortured and conflicted his character feels and makes him a fascinatingly complex antagonist; while Bautista’s work in bigger blockbusters has been strong, this feels like the best and clearest implementation of his talents to date. Ben Aldridge and Jonathan Groff share believable, poignant chemistry as a married couple, which also helps to add layers to the tension. Nikki Amuka-Bird, Abby Quinn, and Rupert Grint (boy, it’s been forever since I saw him in anything, and it’s nice to see that he has more than Ron Weasley in him) are also effective in tricky roles as the fellow invaders. With Knock at the Cabin, Shyamalan makes one of his biggest and most effective efforts to date to move away from the silliness and hubris that marred a decent stretch of his careeer, and the result is a well-crafted film that got me on a more emotional level than I was anticipating.
 

B

[filmlover]

For at least 2/3 of Knock of the Cabin, I was finding it to be pretty effective and easily M. Night Shyamalan's best movie since Signs. The extended opening sequence from Dave Bautista introducing himself to young Kristen Cui through the home invasion itself does a masterful job of setting up the stakes, there's a number of tense moments, and the writing/performances come across as much less stilted than they do in many M. Night flicks. Bautista is terrific playing completely against type and makes me eager to see him tackle more serious roles like this post-Drax. Cui has clearly gone to the Jacob Tremblay/Brooklynn Prince school of natural child acting. Nikki Amuka-Bird, Abby Quinn, and Rupert Grint (despite being saddled with a shaky Boston accent) all contribute solid work as well.

 

But the climax ended up falling flat for me. I didn't read the book this was based on, but going in, I had heard a lot about how it had a completely different ending from the movie, and decided to check out the spoilers afterwards to see how they differed. I can see why Shyamalan and co. likely had cold feet about moving forward with filming the original ending (it's basically an unwritten rule that at least the kids must survive in movies of this sort), and any ending in which no sacrifice was ultimately made at all would've probably been labeled a cop out, but I couldn't help but feel slightly letdown by how it plays out here. Perhaps the problem is that while Jonathan Groff and especially Ben Aldridge give very good performances on their own, I was never able to truly buy them as a completely devoted couple, and so the ultimate sacrifice didn't have nearly as much impact as I would've preferred. Or maybe this was one of those books that was always going to be tricky to adapt to the screen. I dunno.

 

But even if the whole thing falls apart upon greater scrutiny afterwards, I was certainly never bored, and I ultimately thought the positives ended up outweighing the negatives. And it's unlikely I'll see another movie like it for the rest of the year, so that counts for something and makes for a recommendation to see it in a theater even with the aforementioned reservations I had with it.

 

B-

[MOVIEGUY]

I really liked this. Shyamalan has been on a roll lately. Really tense throughout, great score, cinematography and performances, especially Bautista. The stilted Shyamalan dialogue is pretty minimal although it pops up occasionally ("He likes pancakes") but I don't really mind, honestly the weird lines are just part of the fun of his movies at this point. Third act isn't as strong as the first two but overall a really enjoyable thriller.