Culture

‘Knock at the Cabin’ offers gripping apocalyptic ride minus a stunning crescendo

Jonathan Groff and Kristen Cui star in a scene from the 2023 film “Knock at the Cabin,” directed by M. Night Shyamalan. The horror movie is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America. (Trinity Times photo/courtesy Universal Pictures)

By Maalik Hawkins
Trinity Times Movie Reviewer

Opening scenes of “Knock at the Cabin” sets the audience up for a sci-fi horror cloak-and-dagger that ultimately doesn’t deliver the distinctive twist of writer-director M. Night Shyamalan’ previous films yet offers up stellar performances in a biblically captivating story.

Beautifully filmed, Shyamalan tells us the story of two dads, Eric and Andrew – played by Jonathan Groff and Ben Aldridge, who to take their daughter on a family vacation in a remote Cabin. When the child encounters a stranger who tells her it’s up to her family to save the world, the apocalyptic saga moves into high gear with cabin-bursting visionaries holding the household hostage demanding they commit the unthinkable.

The four strangers – lead by Leonard, played by Dave Bautista – tie the gay couple and their daughter to chairs, explain their cataclysmic visions led them to the cabin and implore their hostages to murder one of their family members within 24 hours or a disaster will occur that will kill millions of innocent people every day they refuse this mission.

This is a movie poster for the 2023 film “Knock at the Cabin,” directed by M. Night Shyamalan. The horror movie is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America. (Trinity Times photo/courtesy Universal Pictures)

Bautista delivers a striking performance that proves he has the acting chops to lead the audience through this journey.

Shyamalan’s prose gives the “Knock at the Cabin” script the anguish of confronting an apocalypse and the unbearable options to overt it without his typical mind-blowing crescendo.

The thrilling pace of the storyline allows the audience to forgive the film’s mediocre twist, and like in other Shyamalan flicks, look for his guest cameo in a right-to-the-point movie that doesn’t leave anything left on the table.

Subsequent screenings will give viewers the opportunity to comb through for hidden meanings.

Everyday Moviegoers – 8.5/10
Critics – 6.7/10
Cinephiles – 8/10

– – – Maalik Hawkins is a graduate student at Trinity Washington University.

Comments are closed.