Movie Review: ‘Knock At Cabin Twists Home Invasion Horror

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9 Feb, 2023

Movie Review: ‘Knock At Cabin Twists Home Invasion Horror

It spoils it. It spoils it.

This mid-winter (usually a bit of a blur in theaters) opens for M. It's good to have almost a year of conceptual thrills from Nate Shyamalan. His latest book, The Old Ones, tells the story of vacationers stranded on a private beach where aging has accelerated — accelerated just in time for white lotus summer. But at this quiet and busy time of year, Shyamalan is starring on the big screen and some of the new-age questions are: "Who's got it?"

Cab Knock, which hits theaters on Friday, is Shyamalan's film, and it's a fun ride. Complex setup? Nausea spirituality to check? Challenging But as a well-crafted, self-contained thriller – after the film's success, the film takes place almost entirely in a remote room – Shyamalan's latest directorial venture looks too ordinary.

We have the cabin, our small group of characters and most importantly, our predictable premise. While Shyamalan's films often flirt with supernatural forces and existential struggles, his cinematic universe has nothing more expansive than the concept. And "Knock at the Cabin" was carefully teased, exploited and painstakingly tracked for final completion under the guidance of a seasoned professional.

Near a cabin in the woods, 7-year-old Gwen (Kristen Cove) collects grasshoppers in a jar. "I'll be learning about you for a while," he said, sliding into the bowl. Shyamalan collects the sample in an airtight container for testing. A man slowly comes out of the forest. An ugly, anxious man (Dave Bautista) approaches Gwen, politely introducing himself as Leonard and making small talk, occasionally glancing over her shoulder. He says the reason he was found broke his heart. He called it "perhaps the most important work in world history".

"Podiatry!" Leonard's career took a turn for the worse before the outcry. He and three other men soon emerge from the woods, as Leonard patiently explains, to give Gwen's parents a choice that will determine the fate of the world. Once at the cabin, Leonard - joined by Sabrina (Nikki Amuka-Bird), Redmond (Rupert Grint) and Adrian (Abby Quinn) - tells Gwen's parents, Eric (Jonathan Groff) and Andrew (Ben Aldridge) that their Sacrifice must be made to prevent a global catastrophe. They each arrived at the cabin - like warped versions of the characters from Intimacy of the Third Kind - what fate awaits the family in this ramshackle cabin if someone doesn't kill them in a few hours.

It's nothing like last year's Barbarian , another embarrassing example of the perils of poorly chosen Airbnb (though I wouldn't push the "shamlan metaphor" on future bookings). It's an honest metaphor like most of Shyamalan's schemes. What is more important: protecting the family or the world?

Your party guests have reason to be suspicious of humanity. Are they misleading? Was this targeting same-sex couples? Don't their questions sound like some of the crazy questions of today's attackers? Eric and Andrew feel the most brutal they have encountered as gay men. Flashbacks with moments of joy and pain suggest that this horrific scene is part of a larger narrative about a loving family embedded in a cruel world. "Always together" is the couple's motto.

But the way the four hackers talk to each other belies that possibility. They seem very concerned about the welfare of the family. They are characterized as ordinary people, some with their own families, who reluctantly fulfill their duties. They also make sacrifices. Bautista, in one of his best performances, was more endearing than scary despite wielding heavy weapons. There is also a kind of presence of Amuka birds.

The performances are convincing throughout, and Shyamalan beautifully stages the intensity of the madness as the blood flows and the televised intensity rises. Paul G. Adapted from Tremblay's 2018 novel The Cabin at the End of the World, the story deftly subverts the home invasion thriller.

Undoubtedly there are deeper avenues of inquiry that remain unexplored. But there's the joy of B-movies that deviate from horror conventions and even the director's trademark sensibilities. Shyamalan doesn't ramp up the violence or rely on plot twists to propel Knock the Cab forward. Instead, the film serves as a slick, well-crafted morality play that plays on fatalism, family and climate change. What makes Shyamalan's film stand out is that it dares to believe that few things are more important than family. In the apocalypse scene on the big screen, family is always the last and constant resort. Here it can become a hindrance.