The end is nigh
This one-room ensemble piece makes for a gripping thriller.
M Night Shyamalan may have a chequered filmography, but with his latest movie, he seems to have a sixth sense about the way the world is heading. In a tale that touches on conspiracy theories, climate change and the craze for air fryers, Knock at the Cabin feels like a film for our time.
But although this apocalyptic psychological thriller starts with promise, its slightly tortuous journey risks leaving viewers mostly bemused by the end.
With his last film, Old, Shyamalan adapted a graphic novel with a clever premise – holidaymakers at a secluded beach discover they are ageing rapidly and fatally – then ruined it with a ridiculous and risible script.
By comparison, Knock at the Cabin has a dubious premise, but this adaptation of the 2018 horror novel The Cabin at the End of the World benefits from sharp writing and superb performances from a delightfully eclectic cast. That includes knockouts from Dave Bautista (the former wrestler best known as Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy) and eight-yearold Chinese-American actress Kristen Cui in her first proper role. Working together, this pair are the real marvel, as Bautista’s burly, bespectacled schoolteacher Leonard befriends tiny Wen in a truly gripping opening that is heavy with foreboding and excellent down-the-lens acting.
Wen’s family are on vacation at an isolated cabin in the woods, but when Leonard arrives with three others, they thrust Wen and her two gay dads into a predicament: one that involves a terrible choice and the potential end of the world.
Leonard’s motley crew is made up of a kindly nurse ( Old’s Nikki Amuka-Bird), a maternal short-order cook (Abby Quinn), and an ex-con ( Harry Potter’s Rupert Grint, terrifically against type). The dynamic between these presumed nutcases and dads Eric and Andrew ( Jonathan Groff and British actor Ben Aldridge, both wonderful) demonstrates Shyamalan’s knack for creating convincing characters in hard-to-believe situations.
With the preternaturally talented Cui in the middle of the melodrama, this one-room ensemble piece makes for an enthralling thriller – until it has to find an ending. While this doesn’t live up to some of Shyamalan’s classic twists, at least it’s fun getting there.
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It benefits from sharp writing and superb performances from an eclectic cast.