Film Review — Knock at the Cabin
M Night Shyamalan adapts Paul Tremblay’s story The Cabin at the End of the World to decent effect, until the damp squib finale
Although known for his big twist endings, Knock at the Cabin is a rare M Night Shyamalan film that doesn’t rely on a third-act rug-pull. Frankly, on this occasion, he could have done with one. It’s a more consistent, less frustrating effort than Old or Glass, but we’re still light years from the brilliance of his one undisputed masterpiece, The Sixth Sense.
This opens with almost eight-year-old Wen (Kristen Cui) meeting mysterious stranger Leonard (Dave Bautista) whilst gathering grasshoppers in a woodland. Despite knowing she shouldn’t talk to strangers, Wen chatters away to Leonard, who then says he is extremely sorry for what is about to happen, and that she and her parents are going to face a very difficult choice. This scares Wen, especially once three other figures — Redmond (Rupert Grint), Sabrina (Nikki Amuka-Bird), and Adriane (Abby Quinn) — menacingly appear in the distance, wielding various weapons.
Wen rushes back to her holiday cabin in the woods, where she and her two fathers Andrew (John Aldridge) and Eric (Jonathan Groff) are promptly besieged by Leonard and his companions. They break in, informing Eric, Andrew…
