Rating: R | Runtime: 100 minutes
Release Date: February 3rd, 2023 (USA)
Studio: Universal Pictures
Director(s): M. Night Shyamalan
Writer(s): M. Night Shyamalan and Steve Desmond & Michael Sherman / Paul Tremblay (novel The Cabin at the End of the World)

Trust in something more than you.

Considering “morality tale” M. Night Shyamalan is my favorite M. Night Shyamalan (I think The Village and Lady in the Water are his strongest films), I probably shouldn’t be surprised Knock at the Cabin enters that upper echelon of his oeuvre. I honestly think a lot of it comes down to his directorial prowess in such claustrophobic spaces whether they be physical settings or emotional anguish. Everyone was all about his scripts early on and their “twists,” but I have always thought he was a much better visual stylist. The blocking in The Village is next level and he’s giving it a run for its money here. Because we don’t need to see everything that’s happening. It’s enough to experience the horror of those who did and the reality that they’ll never forget.

Based on Paul Tremblay’s The Cabin at the End of the World, Shyamalan ultimately rewrote the adaptation that Steve Desmond and Michael Sherman saw reach Black List status. It concerns a secluded family vacation in the woods with Eric (Jonathan Groff), Andrew (Ben Aldridge), and the seven-year old adopted daughter Wen (Kristen Cui). With her dads lounging on the deck, Wen goes out to catch grasshoppers—not to keep as pets, but to scientifically document their movements in her notebook. That’s what she’s doing when Leonard’s (Dave Bautista) heavy footsteps come walking up their path. He says he’s a friend and disarms Wen to the point where she believes him right until his “co-workers” arrive. Leonard can only apologize, knowing what comes next.

The ask is simple: unless one of Eric, Andrew, and Wen is sacrificed by the hand of another within their trio, all of mankind will be destroyed in an apocalyptic fire. Simple yet unbelievable. What follows is thus a test of faith. Faith in God, technology, science, love, and countless other touchstones that make up a person’s identity and moral compass. The test always concerns contrasts and whether or not what transpires is a product of what Leonard and his three acquaintances (Rupert Grint’s Redmond, Abby Quinn’s Adriane, and Nikki Amuka-Bird’s Sabrina) believe to be true or a product of coincidence. And what will each side see and cling to (or ignore) in order for them to keep believing that they are correct?

What is more plausible? That Leonard and company are bigots who singled out a gay couple to terrorize or that they each had the same vision of their extinction and thus banded together to try and prevent it from being fulfilled? Can tying Eric and Andrew up to start their “conversation” be seen as an unavoidable consequence of the inherent fear this situation conjures or will it fuel their fire to mistrust and disbelieve everything they’re told? And what about the conviction that’s put on display? The violence that is wrought in the name of something even Leonard admits he can’t truly know for certain has just as much chance of turning its audience numb as it does opening their eyes to a “what if” demanding its own leap of faith.

The performances that Shyamalan coaxes out of his cast are extraordinary. And not just that of Bautista who has rightfully earned the majority of praise due to a career-best turn. It’s everyone. Even young Cui despite falling prey to some of the usual child-actor shortcomings. Amuka-Bird is devastating as the most skeptical of her own actions from the bunch. Aldridge is pure sanctimonious rage with very good reason considering the past that will soon be revealed in time-released vignettes throughout. And Groff will break your heart as a spiritual man (Andrew tells him it’s okay to pray via a flashback) and a man who has bought into the romantic notion that he belongs to a family that will not waver in the face of death.

That’s what they face now. Not because Leonard might kill them. But because they might have to confront a decision between killing each other or being killed by the plagues that may or may not have been unleashed by their refusal to accept this supposed duty bestowed upon them. Does some of it get heavy-handed in a Biblical sense? Sure. I don’t think it works otherwise, though. That sense of doom is necessary to move the needle. It’s necessary to show how dedicated and sorrowful Leonard and the others are about their task and how dedicated and fiercely protective Eric and Andrew are about their family. I won’t lie and say I didn’t brace for a whimper or cop-out or “twist,” but Shyamalan relents. He stays true to the message and has faith in its potency for believers and non-believers alike. Because the best ending here is neither happy nor sad. Just inevitable.

---

(from left) Adriane (Abby Quinn), Sabrina (Nikki Amuka-Bird), Leonard (Dave Bautista) and Redmond (Rupert Grint) in Knock at the Cabin, directed by M. Night Shyamalan. Copyright © 2023 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.