KNOCK AT THE CABIN

Based on Paul G. Tremblays 2018 novel The Cabin at the End of the World, M. Night Shyamalans latest offering, Knock at the Cabin, is a psychological horror, home invasion move, with - and, seeing how this is an M. Night Shyamalan film, this will come a shock to nobody - a twist

Same-sex couple Andrew (Ben Aldridge) and Eric (Jonathan Groff) take their adopted daughter Wen (Kristen Cui) on a holiday to a remote cabin in the woods - where nothing bad could ever happen! - where they are interrupted by four home invaders (Dave Bautista as Leonard, Nikki Asuka-Bird as Sabrina, Rupert Grint as Redmond, and Abby Quinn as Adriane). The four proceed to tie up the parents and advise that, in order to prevent the apocalypse, one must agree to sacrifice themselves.

It is an interesting, if not totally original, premise, set apart by one simple character choice, which is that the home invaders are seemingly reluctant to be there. They claim that they are doing what they are doing out of a sense of duty to humanity, rather than bloodlust, and each one gives the impression that they would rather be anywhere else in that moment, and this inner conflict is, for me, easily the most interesting part of the film.

All four of the antagonist cast members do some really good work, but special mention should be given to Dave Bautista, who is given the opportunity here, which has not necessarily been afforded to him elsewhere, to actually act. He is not just playing a different version of the Dave Bautista he has become known as, this is a different type of role for him, and one which he clearly relishes. The duality of his performance - the teacher, and the reluctant enforcer - existing and conflicting with each other behind his eyes

It was also nice to see Rupert Grint in a non-Harry Potter role. I would have liked him to have been given more to do here, but what he does do, he does well, and I hope that this its a gateway back into Hollywood for him.

The standout performer for me though is Kristen Cui as Wen. As far as I can tell this is only her second acting role, yet she more than holds her own within the cast, carrying some scenes almost single handedly on her shoulders. She has great chemistry with her dads - who otherwise have fairly one-dimensional characters - and with Dave Bautista. She is given a lot of responsibility in Knock at the Cabin yet seems to handle it all with ease.

Shyamalan himself should also be given credit for writing a child character, for a major studio film, who isn’t incredibly annoying. Wen is, at times, precocious , but it makes sense within their family dynamics.

It is a shame then, that for all of this good, Knock at the Cabin is just not scary enough. The opening act feels strangely bland and lacklustre, meaning that the film overall, while enjoyable, did not engage me on any kind of emotional level.

The structure of the film is a key reason behind this.

The horror films that often work best, are the ones that you don’t want to turn into a horror. The ones that allow you to spend time with their heroes, getting to know them, and start caring for them, before the horror is inflicted on them.

A large part of the proceeding horror then comes from the fact that it is happening to people you like.

Set it up, then shit them up.

Knock at the Cabin however jumps straight in with the “shit them up” meaning that, because they have more of the screen time, and the more interesting dialogue you weirdly start to engage more with the villains than the heroes.

The film then has to, through the use of flashbacks spread intermittently throughout, do a lot of leg work to get you to care about the Andrew, Eric and Wen, and while it is semi-successful at this, it would have benefited much more from a ten minute sequence at the start, introducing us to the family, before anything bad has happened to them.

As I mentioned earlier, there is also a problem with Andrew and Eric’s characters. Mainly in that they don’t really have much of one. While we do get glimpses of who they are outside of this situation, it is not enough to allow us to paint a picture of their lives. What little we get, also seems to lean heavily into the standard tropes of same-sex couples, leaving just a bland outline of a character rather than two people with actual depth.

Ultimately, Knock at the Cabin feels like a missed opportunity. Audiences will no doubt have fun with it, but it never threatens to become part of horror culture in the way the The Sixth Sense or Signs have done.

M. Night Shyamalan clearly still has something to offer the industry though, and I’ll be interested to see what he does next.