KNOCK AT THE CABIN and the End of the World

 

Knock at the Cabin is an ambitious, tense tale of belief and fate done with typical twists by co-writer/director M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense).

A family of three, Eric (Jonathan Groff), Andrew (Ben Aldridge), and their daughter Wen, take a trip to a remote cabin.  There, they are confronted by a group of four seemingly disparate strangers led by Leonard (Dave Bautista), who have a shocking request that the family make an unthinkable sacrifice to avoid the apocalypse.  Eric and Andrew refuse to believe such an outrageous claim, and as time ticks away and the TV news chronicles worldwide, catastrophic events, the situation grows dire.  Is it all an elaborate trick or an imminent, biblical calamity?   Will Eric and Andrew make the right choice?

The film, with its themes of love, sacrifice, and belief in a greater good, successfully creates an aura of menace and foreboding. In typical Shyamalan fashion, there is a fascinating premise that propels the narrative forward, but this one-trick pony can only carry a film so far.  Despite its intriguing setup, some questions and mysteries are never fully explained.  While occasional flashbacks give deeper background and a stronger connection for the audience, it would have been nice to further explore the bond between Eric and Andrew for a better, emotional payoff at the end.    

What sells this story is the commitment of a strong cast led by Bautista who is quite convincing.  The production is lean with minimal use of sets, though there are some realistic visual effects.  Shyamalan (with Jordan Peele) has exploited The Twilight Zone genre in his films and frequently imbued his fantastic concepts with an emotional core.  This tale presents a fairly entertaining, affecting ‘what if’ especially for fans.

*** of **** stars