Horror, Not Horror: A Knock at the Cabin

 2023, d. M. Night Shyamalan - in theatre

Toasty and I saw a movie together! His review. We agree, methinks.

The most recent Shyamalan I watched was the latter half of The Village airing on one TV channel or another, at least a decade and a half after it stunned and/or frustrated audiences. The Village was a breaking point for some, I had basically tapped out after Signs, and little has enticed me back in. Not The Visit, not Split, nor Glass or Old. I really just thought I was out completely on Night.

But he got me. The trailer for A Knock at the Cabin got me. The premise seemed predictable in terms of the drama it would create, the tension of "truth or delusion" seems quite obvious, and yet there's a hint of spectacle in the trailer, and a surprising cast (do I want to see Jonathan Groff and Dave Bautista scene spar? Yes, yes I do...and I did! I did see it!)

The film is, pretty much, what the trailer sold it as, for good and bad. There aren't many surprises, but everyone involved is committed to the bit. I had questions, though, which the film didn't answer (why the sacrifices?), and I thought it had the opportunity to develop the story into a real head spinner but it chickened out in favour of being as straightforward a narrative as it could. The "news" reports were both the lifeblood of the movie, and also its weakest part. At the very least I was never bored. 

I've heard about the book (The Cabin at the End of the World) and how Night's film deviates from it. Toasty pointed out as we left the theatre how bleak it was, and I mentioned that Night certainly wanted it to feel optimistic in its finale. Toasty pointed out rightly that its a film that leaves so much trauma in its wake, it really can't be optimistic. I don't have a religious background so I'm not really well trained into seeing  undertones (hell, sometimes the overtones escape me) of that sort, but the book leans heavily into the "What kind of God would do any of this?" question, and the end result of the book seems much more truthful and differently bleaker than what happens here.  I honestly can't say what Night's approach to whatever religious angle he's playing with here. Given the events of the story, no matter the outcome, God doesn't come out looking very good.

Bautista, though, comes out looking fantastic, the real highlight of the picture. He's obviously physically imposing, but he can play soft-spoken, kind and tortured very well, and the juxtaposition of the two is phenomenal.  All Night's close-up shots of Bautista's massive head, the way his glasses just kind of pinch his face rather than rest on his ears and nose...there's an undeniable power to it, a great marriage of performance and production. It's said Bautista wants to be known for his versatility as an actor, and he is definitely showing it. It would have been very easy for him to just become the next direct-to-video muscle-bound action star, but he's got so much more ambition than that. I think he's achieving it.

I'm not fully back on board with Shyamalan, but I'm willing to dabble a little more again.

BUT IS IT HORROR?
For some, I'm sure it is, but it strangely shies away from the character deaths (mass deaths aplenty are shown on the news programmes).