Are you there God? It’s me, Dave Bautista.
A New Movie From Director M. Night Shyamalan
M. Night Shyamalan’s movies make me feel weird. Not weird in the sense that they astound me or are bafflingly strange or terrifically bad, simply that they don’t seem to hit me with their divisiveness.
Since I was a young filmgoer on Al Gore’s internet, I have heard every joke about M. Night Shyamalan’s career. We all know the man has an exaggerated reputation. Once Hollywood’s darling, now its greatest punching bag, I genuinely feel apprehensive about covering his work because of the unnecessary aggression many people have towards him and his filmmaking, both in defense and in attacking his oeuvre. There’s a need among critics at this point to mythologize Shyamalan’s work in a way that is, honestly, just kind of annoying.
The Emotional Disconnect of Shyamalan’s Horror Films
Because I sometimes feel mentally broken looking at them. Especially with his horror films, and especially waiting for my hatred or love of them to sink in. And neither happens. They’re just fine. Even The Happening, reviled as one of the best “so-bad-its-good” horror movies, is sort of just a void to me. I’ve seen it twice, and it doesn’t do much either way.
They’re okay. Devil was fine. The Visit was fine. Split was fine. Everything he does to me, is just fine.
All of this very long preamble is to say my voice as a critic tells me Knock at the Cabin is much of the same, and if you have strong inclinations about Shyamalan’s filmmaking like many do, this film is a pendulum that will swing in your direction.
A Cast of Heavy Hitters Led by Dave Bautista
For the uninformed, Knock at the Cabin is based on the acclaimed Paul Tremblay novel The Cabin at the End of the World. It follows couple Eric (Jonathan Groff) and Andrew (Ben Aldridge) who, while on vacation with adopted daughter Wen (Kristen Cui), find themselves besieged by a doomsday cult that holds them captive. Led by the awkward giant of a man, Leonard (Dave Bautista), and united by visions of the apocalypse that force them to choose which among them will be sacrificed to stop the world’s end.
This cast, rightfully, piqued a good deal of people’s interests. Many have been curious to see Bautista take on more serious roles, and for those excited about that prospect, you will enjoy yourself. He wonderfully inhabits the character of Leonard, a violently neurodivergent doomsayer burdened by a task he believes wholeheartedly. The role is meaty enough for him to work with but not so distracting that he detracts from anyone else in the cast. His companions, played by Nikki Amuka-Bird, Rupert Grint, and Abby Quinn, are also good, barring some awkward line deliveries, but we’ll get back to them soon.
Strong Chemistry, Underutilized Characters
As for Eric and Andrew, Groff and Aldridge have undeniable onscreen chemistry, making a very believable pair; Aldridge is the calloused human rights attorney, while Groff is his much more softhearted husband, and the two balance each other nicely. But for some reason, the two are not particularly compelling in their struggle until their final scene together, which itself is marred by some ham-fisted dialogue despite being ultimately touching. I think it’s because the movie doesn’t give them much to do until the final act, with most of their speaking lines coming from flashbacks to difficult times in Eric and Andrew’s relationship. As a result, much of the onus to entertain and astound is on Bautista’s suicide cult.
The Cult’s Dynamic: A Missed Opportunity
And that’s another hiccup. One of the conceits of how the cult operates hurts what I like the most about the supporting cast; their nervous energy works well off one another, with all the actors’ dread bouncing off electrically as they trade lines. But it doesn’t last that long because…
They begin killing each other to initiate the very real plagues that will destroy everything. Which is an interesting idea, but in practice deprives us of a lot of great character interactions that I’m assuming were in the book and condensed down to a sub-2-hour runtime. While those developments on the ground shaking and the sky falling can be scary, it seems to ignore the human interactions we’re here for.
A Serviceable Script with Thematic Depth
The script is tight, and serviceable for the most part, except for some strange line choices. Thematically the movie isn’t overly ponderous or paper thin, it communicates its thoughts on the thin line that can sometimes appear between faith and delusion quite well, and the weight of the sacrifice is never diminished. The choice to utilize flashback segments wasn’t one I can outright call bad, but they don’t add enough of an emotional punch, or at least don’t add anything that wasn’t already present. The script is fine.
An original score that can ratchet up some of the tension in a film where it’s not always present is an aspect of the film I can appreciate. As far as technical praise goes, the lighting works in tandem with the set design nicely. On the other hand, there’s somewhat obnoxious camerawork that emphasizes a lot of very dire close-ups of characters. The movie opens with one of these, and it’s a few minutes long, shot reverse shot of two faces right next to each other. I understand what they’re trying to communicate, Leonard encroaching on Wen’s space and getting down to her level, but it just feels too literal, and the insistence on pulling in on every character’s face at least once gets tired.
Cinematography and Editing: Perfectly Fine
The editing is good, while some of the CGI is a bit distracting on a large scale and the small scale (I still don’t get why we’re using CGI blood for simple gunshot wound effects in 2023, but I know that’s just a personal gripe). Can you guess which two words I would ascribe to the cinematography? Right-o, reader: it’s fine.
I’m torn, as usual. In the end, Wen’s promise to her jar of grasshoppers feels like a reflection of my thoughts on Knock At The Cabin: this movie felt like I was here to learn about these people, and learn I did. For some that will be enough; for others, this will be another exercise in disliking Shyamalan’s work. But at the end of the day, I’m not sure if this character study will stick with me, or if it has much rewatch value. It’s a thriller with its fair share of positives and negatives, but it is ultimately no world-rending serpent or rapturous hand of God when it comes to the genre. Still, it’s worth at least one watch, so check it out and see how you feel.