Once again director M Night Shyamalan will split the room with this apocalyptic psychological thriller.
Lauded as Hollywood’s brightest director after the likes of The Sixth Sense and Signs, Knock at the Cabin continues his run of divisive movies – think The Happening, The Village, Old etc – where the underwhelming finale doesn’t pay-off the generally intriguing premise.
For the most part this plays out pretty well. Dave Bautista’s (The Guardians of the Galaxy) well-mannered brutishly-built Leonard turns up at the remote Pennsylvanian holiday cabin retreat of gay couple Andrew (Ben Aldridge) and Eric (Jonathan Groff) – who are vacationing with their seven-year-old daughter Wen (Kristen Cui).
But when Leonard, with three fellow weapon-wielding cohorts in toe – Redmond (Harry Potter star Rupert Grint), Sabrina (Nikki Amuka-Bird) and Adriane (Abby Quinn) – confront the holidaying trio in a scenario seemingly befitting horror The Strangers, they claim they mean no harm.
Instead, when the four unwelcome guests break into the cabin and hold the family hostage, they declare that they’re here to ‘save the world’ – echoing the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse. Leonard and friends claim they have been driven by visions of an ‘unknown force’ to find the family after seeing the end of the world – and the only way to prevent this from happening is for the family to sacrifice one of their own.
After initially thinking the group is lying and targeting them due to bigotry and delusion, turning on the TV reveals some of the awful scenarios they purported would happen – from mega-tsunamis and a deadly flu pandemic to devastating lightning strikes and planes crashing from the sky – that are now taking place across the globe.
And while Andrew remains steadfastly against the psychotic gang’s claims, believing this is just some ‘sick’ game – Eric slowly starts to be convinced they could just be telling the truth, leaving the family with an inexplicably devastating life or death decision to make. Save your loved ones, or save humanity.
Which yet again leads to a fascinating opening hour or so – complete with a few gruesomely shocking moments – that quickly dissolves into formulaically-familiar Shyamalan territory by the close, depending on what side of the fence you sit on of course.
For some (including myself) it still ‘knocks’ up a captivating story – complimented by another noteworthy turn from Bautista – but for most it will probably lead to another ‘Is that it?’ ending from the filmmaker.
But it’s still well worth taking the ride – for you to decide.
ESP Rating: 3/5
Gavin Miller
Showcase Cinema De Lux Peterborough, Out Now
Cast: Dave Bautista, Ben Aldridge, Jonathan Groff, Kristen Cui, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Abby Quinn & Rupert Grint
Running Time: 1 Hr 40 Mins
Director: M Night Shyamalan
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