Despite being one of the most celebrated and successful filmmakers of the 21st century, M. Night Shyamalan has proven to be one of the most divisive too. His work has been described in wide-ranging terms from brilliant and unique, to underwhelming and narratively manipulating. However, fans of the Indian American director remain unwilling to recant their opinion of him being a visionary. He was once hailed as the next Spielberg, but then publicly flogged by critics who turned their back on him during a spell when his films were performing torridly.
With his latest offering, Knock at the Cabin, Shyamalan seems to have landed in the middle with generally mixed reviews that often bash the film for being below his best. However, this is probably the greatest tragedy of his career. Having peaked so early and in such stunning style as he did with his third feature film, The Sixth Sense, Shyamalan has since been cursed to always be characterized as brilliant or nothing. His recent work, at least to his fans, has shown a great resurgence, and his best pier de resistance against all the unwarranted noise is the fact that his films often smash at the box office and keep his massive cult following enthralled with his work no matter what is said about him.
Knock at the Cabin was probably one of the best examples of the duality of his movies. While many critics knocked it for being subpar, his fans saw it as another brilliant example of his talent and unique penchant for creating a suspense-laden aesthetic coupled with artistic misdirection and getting the very best out of his actors. For all its apparent flaws, the film still had an outstanding commercial showing, even dethroning Avatar: The Way of Water from the top spot when it debuted at $14.2 million. If you haven't seen the film yet, our best advice is to forget all the buzz, give it a watch, and decide for yourself. Here's a brief synopsis, followed by a cast and character guide to give you a who's who breakdown of the film.
The Plot of Knock at the Cabin
Based on the novel, The Cabin at the End of the World, by Paul G. Tremblay, Shyamalan's adaptation turned the book into a gripping psychological horror ride dripping with coarse tension. In the filmmaker's slow-burning thrill-ride style, he leverages everything from ancient religious misanthropy to fine nuances of homophobia, meshed together by a melting pot of existential dread. The film plays on some disturbing moments to keep audiences guessing as a mysterious group of people breaks into a gay couple's holiday cabin to take the pair and their young adopted daughter hostage for a very special reason.
Despite this premise being terrifying enough on its own, the mysterious group claim to have experienced shared visions of a coming apocalypse. They provide a chilling ultimatum that leaves the family with an unimaginable choice, all the while never knowing if their captors are a deranged religious cult, or if this is nothing more than a horrifying hate crime. All this sets the tone to leave viewers on tenterhooks as the film draws itself out with some excruciating and elegant suspense along the way.
Dave Bautista as Leonard Brocht
While wrestlers may be built like action heroes, good acting requires nuances that go far beyond strength and physicality. Dave Bautista was a wrestler who smashed his way into the acting world, peaking as he landed a coveted role in Guardians of the Galaxy films as Drax the Destroyer. He's had quite a few flops in his time and has been panned by critics on many occasions for it. However, M. Night Shyamalan is a director known for getting the best from his actors.
In Knock at the Cabin, Bautista plays a nuanced character. His sheer size and intimidating look cause him to lend an uneasy edge to the film's opening scene as he approaches a young child seemingly alone in a remote wooded area. The close-up cinematography adds to the suspense, displaying the power disparity while he tenderly speaks to her. As we move on, we learn that this hulking giant of a man covered in tattoos is actually a second-grade teacher named Leonard Brocht.
Leonard leads a group of four strangers to the little girl's parents' cabin while they all carry weapons and appear to be home invaders hell-bent on harming them. Yet, as the story develops, there's something undeniably soft about Leonard despite his physical stature and seemingly violent actions. The way his gentle voice clashes with his apparent intentions makes for an anguished character. As for Bautista, he was brilliant, proving once and for all that he is a great actor with his stratified performance as a man battling his own nature to fulfill a calling he never asked for, or wanted.
Ben Aldridge as Andrew
One-half of the gay couple that own the cabin which the majority of the film plays out in, Andrew is a human rights lawyer and far from as helpless as he seems. Taking charge at pivotal moments, he exudes strength of character as he jostles for authority and often leaves the captors speechless with his sharp reasoning skills and his unwillingness to give up on his family no matter how dire the stakes may be.
Despite all his strengths, we see from flashbacks that his negative experiences with homophobic attitudes and a lack of acceptance have left him bitter and resentful, traits that prevent him from seeing beyond what is in front of his eyes to glimpse the truth behind it like his husband can. Andrew is played by Ben Aldridge, who is best known for playing the iconic Thomas Wayne (Batman's father) on Pennyworth.
Jonathan Groff as Eric
As Andrew's husband, Eric is notably the more tender and warmer of the two. This also seemingly makes him the weaker one as he initially takes a more submissive role and defers to Andrew's advice and authority. However, as the film progresses, Eric proves to be a far deeper character than meets the eye as he shows the kind of spiritual enlightenment his partner has always turned away from out of anger for the pain religiosity has caused him in his life. Eric is portrayed by Johnathan Groff, a multi-Tony Award-nominated actor and Grammy Award-winning singer. He's also had leading roles in shows like Looking and Mindhunter, in addition to voicing the character Kristoff in the Frozen franchise.
Nikki Amuka-Bird as Sabrina
Sabrina is a nurse who clearly does not fit the mold of a home invader. Her hesitation when it comes to using violence against the family, combined with her caring nature and compulsion to help with their injuries give us some great insights into who she really is.
She confesses to never being religious despite their current predicament and the unbelievable claims she makes with the others that initially point squarely toward some form of religious fanaticism. Sabrina is played by Nikki Amuka-Bird, a Nigerian-British actress who has some major acting credits to her name that include appearances in films like Jupiter Ascending and a leading role in the TV series, Avenue 5.
Abby Quinn as Adriane
Like Sabrina, Adriane seems clearly at odds with the violent nature of the intrusion into the family's life. She's soft-spoken, reveals that she previously worked as a line cook, and shows some telling moments of tenderness toward Andrew and Eric's daughter. In a moment of desperation, she also lets on that she has a son.
The powerful emotions she displays as she steps up to accept the role she must play even when it breaks her heart, shows her strength of character and the wonderful range of the actress who plays her. That actress is Abby Quinn, a promising up-and-coming performer who's had minor roles in films like Little Women and appeared in shows like Black Mirror and Better Call Saul.
Rupert Grint as Redmond
The only member of the invaders who doesn't necessarily give off a trustworthy vibe amid the threatening nature of their actions, Redmond does begin to soften when he relates his story. We learn that he's a man who's tried his best to rehabilitate himself from his past life which included time behind bars and an abusive childhood.
His abrasive nature makes it harder for the group to gain any kind of cooperation from their captives, and he proves to be the most bitter about their fate, despite willingly accepting it as the others do when the time comes. He's played by Rupert Grint, who gives a rousing performance as Redmond. Grint needs no introduction or description since he's almost exclusively known by his global fame for playing Ron Weasley across all the Harry Potter films.
Kristen Cui as Wen
In a performance dripping with latent acting talent, Kristen Cui plays Wen, the adopted daughter of Andrew and Eric. Her initial scenes are a picture of innocence as she talks to herself while capturing grasshoppers and making childish scientific recordings of their behavior that hint at her vast intelligence for a seven-year-old. Yet, for all her obvious charm, there's a vulnerability to her too.
This is subtly displayed by the self-consciousness she shows for her cleft palate scar and her highfalutin speaking manner that lands like a psychological need to confidently express herself as a self-affirming gesture. We learn through flashbacks that she may have been fraudulently adopted by her fathers but was also deemed a "miracle" by Eric. If any of these mannerisms were deliberate from the adorable Kristen Cui, it's mind-boggling to imagine just how astute and innately talented this young performer already is.
Andrew's Parents
While the bulk of the film revolves around the four home invaders and the three family members who encounter them, a brief but revealing flashback gives us insights into Andrew's parents. In a scene that depicts how they visit the couple, seem very awkward around them, and then hastily leave, we learn that the painful rejection by his parents contributed to the resentment he displays in the present.
Despite their short appearance in the film the pair provide a significant insight into some of the reasons why Andrew has rightly become bitter in way that makes him skeptical of accepting the spiritualism at play in the film. Andrew's mom and dad were respectively played by McKenna Kerrigan, who's appeared in shows like Law & Order, and Ian Merrill Peakes, who's performed in theater productions as a Shakespearean actor.
M. Night Shyamalan
One of M. Night Shyamalan's better-known quirks is also the fact that he loves playing cameos in his own films. In the film, he can be seen playing an infomercial host. This one was pretty brief, so blink and you'll miss it. Despite all the negative reviews surrounding the film, Knock at the Cabin still has plenty of strong points to warrant all the publicity it's been getting.
If you haven't seen it, it's probably best that you forget that Shyamalan directs it and just watch the film on its own merits, since all the divided opinions that shadow the director's every project often get in the way of the fact that whether good or bad, his films always carry his unmistakable signature for being intriguing at the very least.
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