REVIEW: ‘Knock at the Cabin’ plot could be given away right here

NICOLE BOYD opinion editor

“Knock at the Cabin’’ defied my expectations in the sense that it was a middle-of-the-road M. Night Shyamalan movie.

After M. Night Shyamalan’s hit “The Sixth Sense,” he went on to make more movies including “Old,” known for its bizarre premise and terrible dialogue, “Split,” which was criticized for its portrayal of dissociative identity disorder, and live-action “The Last Airbender” – for which, as a huge fan of the original “Avatar: The Last Airbender” cartoon, I will never forgive him.

I thought there could be no in-between when it comes to Shyamalan’s movies, that is until I saw “Knock at the Cabin.”

The story begins with what appears to be a strange home invasion, as Leonard (Dave Bautista) tries to persuade husbands Eric (Jonathan Groff) and Andrew (Ben Aldridge) to let him and his three companions enter their vacation cabin. They claim that one person between the two men and their daughter, Wen, must be sacrificed to prevent the apocalypse. What’s worse, they have to choose and sacrifice the person themselves.

Watching the back-andforth between the intruders and family, the audience should be trying to guess what to believe – is this a targeted attack on two gay men, or could the intruders be right about the impending apocalypse? It would have been fun to see clues dropped along the way, but sadly, the interactions can only be analyzed at face value. For example, the intruders keep referencing visions of what will happen if the family does not choose, but we only get a glimpse of what those visions were in the opening credits.

The family’s love for one another is shown through a handful of quick flashback scenes, which are intended to show how difficult such a choice would be for them. However, due to the movie’s odd pacing, we see very little affection between the husbands in the primary plot line. By introducing the hook almost immediately, the emotional tone starts down and stays down. The flashback of the family having fun in the lake at the cabin would have been much more effective as an opening scene. It also kills a lot of the suspense, since we instantly know where the movie is going to go.

Criticisms aside, the movie isn’t necessarily bad. The plot may be simple, but it is straightforward and enjoyable, and the action scenes provide a decent amount of suspense. All of the actors play their parts well, and Bautista is particularly convincing in his role as a humble, sympathetic (yet large and intimidating) intruder.

While I wouldn’t consider “Knock at the Cabin” especially scary, it’s an enjoyable, easily-stomached thriller. It may not satisfy hardcore horror fans or those who love big plot twists, but if you’re looking to dip your toes into the horror genre or just want a fun hour and 40 minute that isn’t purely comedy or action, there are certainly worse things to watch.

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