Knock at the Cabin (2023)
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Knock at the Cabin Movie Review
Knock at the Cabin is a 2023 psychological horror film directed by M. Night Shyamalan and starring Dave Bautista, Jonathan Groff and Ben Aldridge. It’s such a fun, surprisingly solid movie.
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“I did that so you wouldn’t run away“
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While vacationing, a girl and her parents are taken hostage by armed strangers who demand that the family make a choice to avert the apocalypse. Based on a literary source material, Shyamalan adapted this story instead of making up his own, which led to the movie being so much smoother and tighter. It’s a strong case for his future as he really should be adapting instead of writing original screenplays.
This is a high-concept idea that is very cool and original, but admittedly making very little sense at the end of the day. However, the movie makes a strong choice to not explain anything, instead focusing on the psychological aspects of this scenario. This made the plot illogical, but had he gone on to explain it more, it would have been even more ludicrous, so this type of approach was the only valid one in this instance.
The attacked family in question is a family consisting of two gay dads and their adopted Asian daughter. But the filmmakers went to great lengths to not make a big deal out of this, which was a terrific choice that paid off significantly in making them universally relatable to anybody. This is how representation should be done – in a subtle fashion.
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And you come to really care for this family owing to some solid characterization and strong acting performances. It was great seeing Jonathan Groff of ‘Looking’ fame here and he was very well cast as the calmer and more demure man of the two. Ben Aldridge was even more memorable here than he was in the recent romantic drama ‘Spoiler Alert’. His role was so proactive and badass that it perfectly contrasted with the role of Groff. They seemed like a real couple, which was essential in making audiences care for the family.
The daughter is also great. She is quite smart and capable, even too much for her age, but she remains likable and endearing throughout. As for the “villains”, these roles are underwritten for the most part and only Dave Bautista made a strong impression of the entire team. He talked a lot about wanting to be in more serious roles, which this is to a degree, but he still needs to push himself more in the future. He was so well cast in the role that demanded of him to speak in a slow, calm manner and this is his best performance to date, but again it’s not as complex as you’d expect.
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The horror thriller elements really worked and Knock at the Cabin is consistently entertaining and suspenseful. The psychology behind making this choice was so well explored, though admittedly even more could have been done with this interesting premise. The side characters and the fantastical elements needed more emphasis as it wasn’t enough to just portray the events through the television screen. This made the movie too obviously cheap and limited in scope. It’s technically well made and the action horror scenarios are very well executed, but I wished to have seen more of the fantastical elements.
Knock at the Cabin is one of the better Shyamalan movies. Although it ultimately makes no sense, its high-concept plot is original and fun. The movie is at its best when focusing on the psychological horror elements as the central family is well realized and you root for them throughout. It’s a simple genre movie that is thrilling and entertaining, so its flaws can easily be forgiven.
My Rating – 3.5
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