M. Night Shyamalan returns to the big screen with Knock at the Cabin
After over two years away from theaters, the polarizing director M. Night Shyamalan returns to the big screen with his newest mystery-thriller film, Knock at the Cabin. This film is based off of the book titled Cabin at the End of the World written by Paul Tremblay, which was released in the summer of two thousand and eighteen. Right now, Shyamalan’s film sits at a 68% critic score and a similar 65% percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
The film opens with a young girl and her parents while they are vacationing in a remote cabin four armed strangers take them hostage and demand that the family make an unthinkable decision to help stop an impending apocalypse. The family has limited contact with the world, and yet must decide the worlds and their fates.
The film has a great cast featuring many actors such as Dave Bautista, the famed wrestler-turned-actor who has appeared in Marvel Cinematic Universe films as Drax the Destroyer and the more recent Glass Onion. Nikki Amuka-Bird features in this as well; the actress was also in Shyamalan’s most recent film Old, and the severely underrated 2022 release The Outfit. The last major name featured in this film whom many may know is Ruper Grint, who plays Ronald Weasley in all the Harry Potter Films.
As mentioned before, M. Night Shyamalan is a very polarizing film maker who has his fair share of big supporters, but at the same time has many naysayers who prey on the unreliability of his films. Shyamalan broke out on the scene with his first major release The Sixth Sense (1999) having arguably the biggest and best movie twist ever executed. Over the course of his career he’s released many beloved and critically acclaimed films, such as Unbreakable (2000), Signs (2002), and Split (2016).
While having his fair share of undeniably great films over the course of his directing career, Shyamalan has also had his share of abominable releases, such as The Last Airbender (2010), The Happening (2008), and After Earth (2015). With these films in mind it is easy to see now why Shyamalan and his filmography is so polarizing due to the huge gap in quality of great films and terrible ones. With this being said, Knock at the Cabin is a relative critical and financial success, so far with an opening weekend of $14.2 million to top the box office charts, dethroning the sci-fi epic Avatar: The Way of Water, which was at the number one spot for seven weeks straight.
My opinion about this film is overall a positive one: it is a good thriller and kept me entertained, but did drag at points. Performances by Bautista as the menacing Leonard and the adorable Kristen Cui as Wen ground the film immensely. Although the film was enjoyable, I did find myself missing the signature twist in this film that M. Night Shyamalan is so well-known for. Regardless, Knock at the Cabin is a step in the right direction, which is especially important since Shyamalan has an untitled project set to release next year.