Knock at the Cabin

Knock at the Cabin is a 2023 movie directed by M. Night Shyamalan. The movie follows a couple who are vacationing with their young daughter in a remote cabin in the woods. The family is ambushed and held hostage by four armed strangers and may not leave the cabin unless they choose to willingly sacrifice one of their own or else four plagues will bring the end of humanity.

The movie starts off by immediately introducing seven-year-old Wen (played by Kristen Cui) who is outside catching grasshoppers. Wen is later approached by a stranger named Leonard (played by Dave Bautista) a bulky and charming man who explains to Wen that the fate of humanity depends on her and her parents’ help. As they spend time together, three more strangers begin to gather, and Wen flees to warn her dads.

Knock at the Cabin stars Jonathan Groff and Ben Aldridge as husbands, daddy Eric, and daddy Andrew. Flashbacks throughout the movie reveal more about their relationship. Implied homophobic parents, having to label themselves as brothers-in-law when they adopt Wen and being verbally detested at a bar showcase a lot of common struggles for gay couples that made the movie feel realistic in that sense. The flashbacks add a lot of contexts to their relationship and reveals a lot about the partners’ differences. Most of the flashbacks seem to have a different effect for Andrew. Rightfully so, Andrew is extremely opposed to accept the idea of sacrificing one member of the family to prevent the end of humanity. Andrew frantically tries to explain away with different ideas ranging from the scientific to the religious. At some point determined it is an act of hate. Even as the proof of apocalypse seems to add up, Andrew is protective to a fault, and it almost seems as though he is okay with roaming the World with just Eric and Wen. A large part can be explained again through the flashbacks, they also provide a sense of the couples’ world views. Eric is a lot more mellow and understanding. He is patient and empathetic and his certainty is the first to falter. Andrew is a lot more hotheaded and his experiences in life have made him believe that people are out to get him. He resorts to anger and physical violence to combat that fear and uncertainty in people. That felt very genuine, and Ben Aldridge does a great job expressing that balance of fear and anger. The husbands have a hard decision to make, and Aldridge strongly chooses to latch onto rationality rather than having to make such a choice. Even in the ending scene, when a decision is made, you can hear Aldridge’s voice tremble as though he is completely choking on the words coming out of his mouth.

The four assailants are Leonard (Dave Bautista), a caring teacher and after school coach, Sabrina (Nikki Amuka-Bird), an atheist nurse, Adriane (Abby Quinn), a pleading mother, and Redmond (Rupert Grint), a homophobic blue-collar worker. All four individuals are played excellently. There is equally a sense of certainty and uncertainty with their actions. They are all relatively sympathetic to the choice the family must make and truly believe that humanity will end otherwise. When they speak of their visions, they seem genuinely horrified like the visions were burned into them. Dave Bautista and Nikki Amuka-Bird were the stronger of the two. Rupert Grint felt the most out of place but I’m not sure if I feel this way because I still think Ron Wesley or maybe his relatively shorter screentime but for sure felt off. The scene where Nikki Amuka-Bird is opening up to Eric in the bathroom as she tends his concussion is one that stood out to me. She expresses her doubts in religion and it says a lot about the state of mind of the core four. They aren’t crazy. She understands how crazy this must all sound, but she tries explaining herself in the time the two share together. This in turn makes her attack on daddy Andrew more difficult to watch because Aldridge’s doubt although wavering, is reasonable but Amuka-Bird feels reluctant to attack him and hurt him. Even when she aims for his leg, she explains that she only did so to prevent him from escaping not necessarily with the intent to kill him. Bautista does a really phenomenal job portraying Leonard. Despite the actor’s appearance, he isn’t some big beefy tatted bully, but rather, he is a charming teacher and cares deeply for his community and students. He is respectful in every way, and it is obvious that this isn’t an easy thing for him to do. There is a lot of empathy the four exhibit towards the couple and towards Wen as well. Despite the heinous decision, they still wish to preserve Wen’s innocence.

Despite the interesting source material, the movie did feel very forgettable. Which was frustrating. I really felt like there were a lot of good elements here and the actors involved do their best. At times, it felt like it bit off more than it can chew. Wen was practically absent throughout the second half. Same with Eric. Considering the ending, there could have been more Eric in the movie. Yes, he has a concussion but at times, it felt like this was mostly Andrew’s battle which is fine, but more could have been developed. Even if Andrew is the primary character, there could have been more emphasis on Eric’s character. Additionally, it felt as though Eric’s sudden persuasion feels delusional or unrealistic to a degree. The allegorical approach felt very typically of Shyamalan considering other titles like Old (2021) Signs (2003) and The Sixth Sense (1999) but the movie felt bland. Although not perfect, it is an easy watch just very forgettable which is unforgivable because it could have been more impactful if it fleshed out deeper ideas rather than realistic but overused LGBT struggles.