Knock at the Cabin Review: A weak but harmless adaptation
Going into this review, I'd just like to share that The Visit is my favorite M. Night film. As such, I was quite excited to watch another kooky M. Night film with zany dialogue set in one house where horrifying things are happening. And, well, I have a pretty balanced amount of enjoyment and disdain for this film. So, I'm excited to share my thoughts on this film in today's The Reel Ranker review.
Knock at the Cabin has a pretty fun plot: home-invasion horror meets disaster flick, with Dave Bautista as a very well-acted, layered "villain". While simpler than many of his premises, I thought that, this time around, it was for the better. There was nothing I disliked about the fundamental foundation of this film—I dug the premise here. Naturally, that leaves the execution as the element that's up in the air. Sometimes, this film is fantastically executed—other times, not so much.
The acting in this film was on point, and (in my opinion) the film's biggest positive. While I've always enjoyed Bautista as an actor, he was super lovable here and the one I was rooting for throughout the film. Rupert Grint was also a fantastic spice character here and was the most hateable, antagonistic character of the film. I was sad his role was small, but it was still impactful. Jonathan Groff was also a major highlight, playing one of the two dads in the film. He is really the heart of this film, bringing most of its emotion as the most caring and nurturing character here.
While his acting was great for the character written, I quite despised Ben Aldridge's character. Personally, I don't see what Eric saw in Andrew, given that Eric was such a sweet, great guy. Then again, my partner is nothing like him, so I guess Eric and I just have different tastes. Anyway, I just think Andrew being the one sacrificed would give me something to latch onto for his character, but it is what it is. Also, the other two members of "the cult" were also greatly acted, even if they weren't written to be the most interesting characters.
A great premise, fun dialogue, and wonderful acting unfortunately don't stop A Knock at the Cabin from being a weak adaptation of the source material that undersells its themes and horror elements and oversimplifies the narrative and characters.
The film's setting, being so isolated and far from the disaster, makes for a really compelling, atypical place to set a disaster film. While it may not have been executed the best, I think it was an interesting idea. It sets up the intended dynamic of "is the cataclysm real?" adequately enough, even if it was rather obviously framed from the get-go that Bautista's character was in the right.
I was mixed on how the film's horror was handled. While the implications were terrifying, the execution was relatively weak outside of, ironically, the execution scenes. Otherwise, it wasn't really scary or super tense. In the scheme of horror movies, it was quite chill, which isn't really the greatest verbiage for a horror film, mais, c'est la vie. Because of this, I think it's a pretty great horror film for newbies.
Sadly, there are also a few other ways this film doesn't come together. For M. Night, who (usually) never plays his films straight, why are we taking out the most major twists of the book? This was an insane choice on his part. Why adapt a book with a good amount of twists and then remove them?
Though M. Night did a great job directing the actors and injecting his style into the project, he fell short of creating a powerful adaptation of the novel. In the book, Wen dies, and it delves into her fathers' grief. It delves into how they attempt to defy fate and fight back against their unjust God, hearkening to a similar narrative throughline presented in an RPG I love, Final Fantasy XIII. Unfortunately, with Wen surviving, there's a lot less grief and horror injected into the plot. The film also doesn't leave the ending open to interpretation like the book does. In the book, they don't ultimately give in because they don't want their deaths to fulfill the fancy of a Creator that doesn't truly love them. All the themes of this story that are most interesting are cut out... by a director who could've at least done a decent job of executing them, begging the question: why would the screenwriters make such silly decisions in their adaptation?
The Reel Ranker Verdict
Reel or Unreel? - Unreel
The Reel Ranker Score: 52%
Letter Score: C+
Star Ranking: 2.5 out of 5
A great premise, fun dialogue, and wonderful acting unfortunately don't stop A Knock at the Cabin from being a weak adaptation of the source material that undersells its themes and horror elements and oversimplifies the narrative and characters. This isn't a horrible film, and if you love Shyamalan films, go ahead and watch it, but don't expect a masterpiece.
Check out my other M. Night Shyamalan reviews below! I will continue to update this as I post more reviews or more films come out!
Brighton Nelson
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