With the exception of flashbacks, Knock at the Cabin<\/em> is set almost exclusively in an isolated vacation home. Daddy Andrew (Ben Aldridge) and Daddy Eric (Jonathan Groff) have traveled there with their daughter Wen (Kristen Cui) for some peace, quiet, and time off the grid; the cable TV soon becomes their only connection to the outside world. Yet while the loving family is there to relax, the film itself wastes no time getting to the action. Mere minutes after the sinister opening credits, the idyllic retreat is interrupted, and Knock at the Cabin<\/em> kicks into gear, refusing to let up for its tight 100 minutes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Young Wen is trapping grasshoppers in the woods when a hulking stranger (Dave Bautista) approaches. The mere appearance of another person in the remote forest is a menace, amplified further by Bautista\u2019s stature. He\u2019s weirdly calm and soft-spoken, but he\u2019s not alone. Soon, a trio (Nikki Amuka-Bird, Rupert Grint, and Abby Quinn) joins him, and they desperately want inside the house. They claim they only want to talk to Daddy Andrew, Daddy Eric, and Wen, while wielding makeshift but utterly terrifying weapons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With an equally spare setting, premise, and cast, writing about Knock at the Cabin<\/em> means talking around its basic story and central ideas, for fear of spoiling the mystery here that makes it an M. Night Shyamalan Film\u2122. While this thriller is quite bleak for a studio movie, it has an exhilarating quality even beyond its taut suspense. A nervous streak of gallows humor courses through the script from Shyamalan, Steve Desmond, and Michael Sherman, and Cui\u2019s Wen is truly adorable without ever descending into sitcom levels of over-the-top cuteness while she\u2019s in real danger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, most of the pleasures of Knock at the Cabin<\/em> arrive from two sources: Shyamalan\u2019s masterful filmmaking and Bautista\u2019s nuanced performance. The director keeps the audience wound tight, leaving them as much in the dark as Andrew, Eric, and Wen as to what\u2019s really going on in both the cabin and the world outside. Together Shyamalan and DPs Jarin Blaschke and Lowell A. Meyer make such interesting, unexpected choices in the cinematography, offering a bounty of tight closeups and over-the-shoulder shots set to Herd\u00eds Stef\u00e1nsd\u00f3ttir\u2019s chilling score. We\u2019re literally not getting the full picture, but what we do see is gorgeous. Knock at the Cabin<\/em> simply doesn\u2019t look like most other movies being released right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Knock at the Cabin <\/em>is the director\u2019s closest engagement with the concept of faith since Signs<\/em>, and it echoes that film\u2019s emphasis on the importance of familial bonds, especially in a crisis. The only real respites from the suspense here are found in the flashbacks that focus on the powerful connection between these three people. A few years ago, its insistence on the value of the romantic love between these two men and their paternal love for their adopted daughter might have felt unnecessary, but the attacks on LGBTQ+ rights recently have demonstrated that this fight is still regrettably relevant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Knock at the Cabin<\/em> poses serious questions about destiny and delusion and conspiracies and coincidences, but it doesn\u2019t offer many concrete or thoughtful answers. It\u2019s more conclusive than its source material, Paul Tremblay\u2019s novel The Cabin at the End of the World<\/em>, but it still doesn\u2019t offer the clarity of either what\u2019s really<\/em> happening or what it thinks about its big themes. There are plenty of surprises here, both for those who\u2019ve read the book and those who go in cold. Shyamalan and his co-writers aren\u2019t too precious with following Tremblay\u2019s plot, and their choices are likely to make the film more palatable to audiences while remaining pretty grim. However, the script suffers from the standard silliness of Shyamalan films, with some moments falling apart like ash the moment they\u2019re touched by the lightest logic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In its climax, Knock at the Cabin<\/em> doesn\u2019t fully land the gut punch it\u2019s attempting, but it does still knock the wind out of you with its boldness. Even more so than the delightfully daffy Old<\/em>, his latest movie serves as a reminder of why he\u2019s one of Hollywood\u2019s most recognizable directors \u2014\u00a0and not just because of his inevitable cameo. Knock at the Cabin<\/em> is thrilling work that keeps the audience enthralled by Shyamalan\u2019s signature approach to the medium.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Knock at the Cabin” is in theaters today.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/cabin2-1024x683.jpg\")
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Those tight closeups are where Bautista astounds. It would be easy for both the actor and Shyamalan to rely on the shortcut of his imposing physicality, but the director intentionally removes that cheat. Everything has to be expressed through Bautista\u2019s face, and each minute expression communicates his character\u2019s struggle with what he believes he has to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\nB<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n