Knock at the Cabin (2023) (1 Viewer)

[Alex...]

 

[Alex...]

 

[Alex...]

 

[Alex...]

Empire Review 4/5

 

[Malcolm R]

Variety didn't like it:

‘Knock at the Cabin’ Review: No Surprise, M. Night Shyamalan’s Latest Is Long, Slow and Disappointing

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I will try to see this in a cinema, I am guessing it will play in the cinemas near me. I will probably see it alone, my wife does not do horror and none of my friends are likely to want to see this. I like how Shyamalan is making his pictures and how they are his own thing, so I would like to support that by seeing it in a theater. Plus, I think Dave Bautista is fun to watch. So, I'm in. Have not read those reviews yet, I don't want to see spoilers.

 

[Tino]

70% currently at RT. Not bad for a genre pic.

Knock at the Cabin

While vacationing at a remote cabin, a young girl and her parents are taken hostage by four armed strangers who demand that the family make an unthinkable choice to avert the apocalypse. With limited access to the outside world, the family must decide what they believe before all is lost.

www.rottentomatoes.com

 

[TravisR]

70% currently at RT. Not bad for a genre pic.

And Shyamalan can definitely be polarizing. You'll see people say one of his movies is great and another say that the same movie is the worst thing they've ever seen.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I always have a good time going to see one of his movies, even if I don’t always end up loving the movie. Looking forward to this!

 

[benbess]

It was certainly distracting, but as I pretty much knew from the trailer I didn't really care for the set-up/story. The performers were all really good, however, and my theater had a pretty good-sized audience that seemed responsive. My rating: B-.

I read a summary of the original novel. Wow. Thank goodness M. Night decided to change that element from the book.

PS A few excerpts from reviews at Rotten Tomatoes that I halfway agree with are below. It's also gotten overall negative reviews from The New York Times, LA Times, The Hollywood Reporter, and Variety. My B- grade is actually higher than what all of these give it, but still, I'm wishing for a better M. Night Shyamalan movie in the future. He pretty much self-finances his relatively low-budget (c. $20 million or so) movies now, and is making a mint doing that. Good on him! Unlike Francis Ford Coppola M. Night has control of his productions, and has an excellent business case to make.

Spoiler

This movie also references something depicted in a different way by the artist Albrecht Dürer in 1498. Felt mixed about that element of the movie.

Spoiler

 

[Tino]

Just got back from a nearly empty Dolby Cinema presentation.

I thought it was ok I guess. Somewhat predictable. Not his best nor his worst. Middle of the road.

I would give it 2 1/2 ️ out of 4.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I liked it. This is the first movie I’ve seen since the pandemic where I didn’t check my watch once during the screening, always a good sign. Great, convincing performances all around, and not one ounce of fat on it. I’m enjoying this run Night’s been on lately, and am happy to keep seeing his movies when they’re as engrossing and provide as much escapism as this did.

Bautista is excellent. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s a real actor. Don’t let his past success in his former job pigeonhole him as another mere muscleman with presence but little else; he can act and the sincerity he brought to his character was heartbreaking. I’ve always liked him in the movies I’ve seen but ever since Blade Runner 2049 and his five minutes there, I’ve thought he had something special. The way he uses his eyes to convey emotion, it’s all in there.

 

[TravisR]

I liked it quite a bit. I'm not familiar with anyone in the movie other than Dave Bautista and Rupert Grint but everyone is good in it.

And bless Shyamalan for making a movie today that was only 100 minutes.

 

[Robert Saccone]

My daughter and I found it quite entertaining for a cold winter afternoon diversion. Might have to check out the book.

 

[Tino]

Bautista is excellent

I did like his performance. He does the gentle giant extremely well.

 

[Wayne_j]

I saw this today and enjoyed it.

Bautista is definitely the wrestler turned actor most likely to win an Oscar one day.

From what I hear from the ending of the book, the twist in this movie is not doing that.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I really wouldn’t consider this to be a film with a twist; I think Night’s films are often expected to have them based on his ending for The Sixth Sense, but I think viewing the rest of his filmography as twist films perhaps misunderstands or misinterprets the stories being told and sells his work short.

 

[Malcolm R]

I don't really think there's any twist to this story. But from what I've read, it does sound like Night actually attempted to give the film an ending of sorts while the book just kind of winds down without any real conclusion.

The book's ending (from a synopsis I read):

Spoiler

During a struggle over a gun, one of the parents accidentally shoots and kills their daughter, but that has no effect on the crisis as it was an accident, not a voluntary sacrifice. The ending of the book is just the couple escaping from the cabin and driving off together as the world falls apart.

From what I've read about the movie's ending:

Spoiler

One of the parents chooses to sacrifice himself to save the world. Having apparently ended the crisis, the surviving parent and daughter go on together.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I've read the synopsis of the book, and I think I'll skip this movie. Unless Shyamalan has re-written or added to the ending, it seems like this is something that would just leave me annoyed when the credits roll.

The movie starts with the same setup: A gay couple and their adopted 7-year-old daughter are vacationing at a remote cabin when four strangers appear and tell them one of them must be willingly sacrificed to save the world.

This being an M. Night Shyamalan movie, the cabin is relocated from New Hampshire to rural Pennsylvania. But otherwise, the movie follows the book very closely until the first of the strangers dies.

Spoiler: Book versus Movie

In the book, Redmond is sacrificed as a means to delay the apocalypse and give the family more time to choose a sacrifice. But in the movie, the four strangers are quite clearly the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and each of their sacrifices unleashes another of the biblical plagues from Revelations.

But the final act is very, very different.

Spoiler: Book versus Movie

In the book, Wen is accidentally shot and killed by Leonard while he is struggling with Andrew for the gun. Since her death was not a willing sacrifice, it didn't count to avert the apocalypse. Andrew and Erica refuse to capitulate to a vengeful God who would not accept Wen's death as enough. So they let the apocalypse play out. In the movie, Wen is not harmed and Eric ultimately chooses to die so that Wen and Eric will be safe. His sacrifice averts the apocalypse in time, as the news reports at the local diner indicate.

It was certainly distracting, but as I pretty much knew from the trailer I didn't really care for the set-up/story. The performers were all really good, however

It's a story that would work equally as well on stage as a play. There are a limited number of characters, and 95 percent or more of the action takes place in one room. If the performances didn't work, the whole thing would collapse in on itself. But everyone, even the little girl playing Wen, were excellent.

He pretty much self-finances his relatively low-budget (c. $20 million or so) movies now, and is making a mint doing that. Good on him! Unlike Francis Ford Coppola M. Night has control of his productions, and has an excellent business case to make.

He's almost his own genre. I don't just mean the supernatural-tinged stories he tells, but the not-quite-plausible characterizations and odd editing rhythms. There are elements that are technically brilliant, and there are areas that feel headscratchingly amateurish. Even without seeing his name, I would have known that this was an M. Night Shyamalan movie.

And now with his Apple TV+ series "Servant" (also co-starring Rupert Grint), he's provided an avenue for his daughter Ishana to hone her own talents as a writer/director.

I thought it was ok I guess. Somewhat predictable. Not his best nor his worst. Middle of the road.

I would agree that it's neither his best nor his worst, but I would put it in the top half of his film canon.

As for being predictable, maybe the biggest twist is that there wasn't a twist. The movie tells you what the game is very early on, and then makes you live it with these characters.

I liked it. This is the first movie I’ve seen since the pandemic where I didn’t check my watch once during the screening, always a good sign.

Of the 100 minute runtime, I would guess that at least 80 minutes are just characters talking. Given that, the fact that it sustains the tension and suspense for so long is a real achievement.

Bautista is definitely the wrestler turned actor most likely to win an Oscar one day.

Yes. The Rock is a movie star, and like the other great movie stars all of Dwayne Johnson's characters are variations on the same person.

But Dave Bautista is the absolute real deal as an actor. His characters all feel completely different from one another, and he embodies each one with total commitment.

 

[benbess]

The box office has actually turned out to be somewhat weak for this one. Even with only a $20 m budget, my guess is that this one might only just break-even, once you factor in probably an equal amount for advertising, overhead, etc.