“Knock At the Cabin”

A Quietly Apocalyptic Thriller

BY MATTHEW CAESAR Staff Reporter

It’s hard to know what to expect when going into an M. Night Shyamalan movie, and not just because of his fondness for a final act twist. Since the filmmaker’s 1999 smash hit “The Sixth Sense”, Shyamalan has had one of the most storied filmographies of the last two decades, and his reputation has been in constant flux. After a fairly rough spot for critical reception through the late 2000s and early 2010s, 2015’s “The Visit” and 2016’s “Split” brought Shyamalan back into the spotlight with a return to his horror roots.

Personally, despite the many ups and downs of his career, it’s hard not to get excited when a new Shyamalan movie is releasing. His early films such as “The Sixth Sense,” “Unbreakable” and “Signs” are some of my favorite horror/thrillers of their time. While the 2010s may have been his most inconsistent decade yet, with the disappointing Glass and Old releasing not too long ago, I still come into every Shyamalan flick with an optimistic point of view.

Shyamalan’s most recent endeavor, “Knock at the Cabin,” is an adaptation of Paul Tremblay’s award-winning 2018 novel “The Cabin at the End of the World.” The film stars Dave Bautista, Jonathan Groff and Ben Aldridge and will be Shyamalan’s second ever R-rated project, his first being 2008’s “The Happening.”

The film follows a gay couple and their daughter vacationing in the woods when a group of four strangers break into their cabin. The intruders, led by Bautista’s character Leonard, inform the family that one of them must allow themself to be killed by another to stop the coming apocalypse. The audience watches as the family’s world both literally and symbolically falls apart around them as they’re faced with an impossible choice.

The film is often more of a drama/thriller than a true-blue horror, and the villains best represent this. While they’re definitely threatening antagonistic forces, the truth of their motivations is a constant mystery throughout the story. The script constantly leaves you questioning whether the intruders are simply insane or if there is truth to what they’re saying. angles as possible to capture the long dialogue scenes throughout the film. Focus is often played to extremes, with depth of field so shallow in close ups that you can hardly see the ears on the character’s heads.

The intruders explicitly don’t want to be there, and this is best represented through Leonard. Dave Bautista gives what is definitely the best performance of the movie playing a broken down, constantly-calm second grade teacher. His interactions with the family, particularly the young daughter, are constantly tense as he attempts to prove the validity of his apocalypse claim.

The movie can begin to feel slow at times, particularly in the second act. The least memorable parts of the film are definitely in the middle, as we mainly see the family and intruders arguing and being fairly stationary. The upside of this is that it further adds to the confusion, as it becomes harder and harder to know who should truly be believed, and the characters even begin to doubt themselves. Watching the couple attempt to grapple with their situation can be genuinely tragic, however the story does become a bit predictable in the latter half.

Overall, “Knock at the Cabin” proves to be a solid thriller with great performances and striking cinematography. Those looking to watch a slower, more dialogue heavy horror/ thriller will definitely find value in this film. While the pacing can feel a little all over the place, and not every character is given much time to be fleshed out, the core of the movie provides an interesting and tragic dilemma that will keep viewers on the edge of their seat.

The horror elements are often subdued in order to focus on the character interactions. While there are a few jumpscares here and there, almost all gore is off-screen or implied. The film spends many flashbacks endearing you to the main couple, as we see their tribulations being gay in America.The daughter is put on the back-burner for most of the movie, speaking very few lines throughout the second and third act. It’s hard to call this a flaw however, as the main conflict really rests on the relationship of our protagonist couple.

For a movie that takes place almost entirely within one small area, it would be very easy to get tired of seeing the same shots of the same location ad nauseam. Luckily, Shyamalan constantly keeps it visually interesting with some great cinematography. The camera will move in and out of the house, finding as many