Miss Flicks

Knock at the Cabin: Film Review

M. Night Shyamalan is wasting no time. It feels like just yesterday he released Old, but that was actually 18 months ago. That film was ridiculous and silly, so thankfully Knock at the Cabin is a return to form.

The film is set in a remote cabin in the woods, where Andrew (Ben Aldridge) and Eric (Jonathan Groff) are on holiday with their adopted daughter Wen (Kristen Cui). Their chilled vacation is interrupted by the arrival of armed strangers Leonard (Dave Bautista), Redmond (Rupert Grint), Sabrina (Nikki Amuka-Bird) and Adriane (Abby Quinn) – who take the family hostage and demand they make a difficult choice to stop an impending apocalypse.

This psychological thriller is tense, thought-provoking and gripping. It keeps you guessing the whole time – I had no idea which way it was going to go and how the story was going to wrap up. The plot revolves around a moral dilemma and makes you think about what you would do in the family’s situation. Would you believe what the strangers claimed and do what they asked? They sound like crazy conspiracy theorists after all.

As much as I enjoyed the interesting concept, I wasn’t sure how it was going to sustain itself for a feature-length film. Here’s how: Shyamalan bulks the story up with several flashbacks giving us an insight into Andrew and Eric’s relationship history. A couple of them were truly necessary as they impacted the present-day story, but the majority weren’t needed and they all interrupted the flow and cut the tension in the main narrative.

Shyamalan and his co-writers Steve Desmond and Michael Sherman have taken significant liberties with the source material, The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay, and these changes could both please and anger readers. One thing is for sure – if you’ve read the book and think you know how it’ll all go down, you’ll be mistaken. They are surprises in store for everybody; readers and non-readers alike.

The character dynamic is really interesting because these four strangers are not stereotypical villains. They are regular people who have been given a job to do and they do want to hurt anybody. Obviously, what they’re doing is wrong but they truly believe the actions will be for the greater good. They are surprisingly caring and nurturing at times and this feels unsettling because they aren’t the evil people you assumed they were.

You would not expect a former wrestler-turned-Hollywood action man like Bautista to play a kind, gentle teacher like Leonard. It is a very different role for him but he nails it and proves that he can do more than the macho/comic characters he’s been given so far. This film shows off his range and pushes the boundaries of what we think a Dave Bautista performance looks like.

I also want to give a shout-out to young newcomer Cui, who is a terrific child star. Wen is no damsel in distress. She may be a child but she is smart, fearless and resourceful and is an asset to her parents in this situation.

Knock at the Cabin is not peak Shyamalan but it is still a solid psychological thriller with an impressive turn from Bautista.

In cinemas from Friday 3rd February