Knock at the Cabin (2023)

Knock at the Cabin (2023). Knock at the Cabin: Directed by M. Night Shyamalan. With Dave Bautista, Jonathan Groff, Ben Aldridge, Nikki Amuka-Bird. While vacationing, a girl and her parents are taken hostage by armed strangers who demand that the family make a choice to avert the apocalypse.

“Knock At the Cabin is…an interesting movie for me. Itu0026#39;s a movie that feels simultaneously too long, too slow, and too short, too quick. To me, itu0026#39;s nowhere near as good as Split, The Visit, or even Old.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eItu0026#39;s has the most abrupt start of any movie Iu0026#39;ve seen in recent years. Literally starting where the trailer starts, and itu0026#39;s extremely jarring. By the end of the movie, I wondered why Shyamalan made this bizarre decision. Oh, donu0026#39;t worry, this movie has the odd directorial choices, strange dialog, and weird performances, as most of his films do.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut speaking of performances, Knock has some of the best Iu0026#39;ve seen in a Shyamalan joint. Bautista is absolutely fantastic in this; heu0026#39;s a weird looking and sounding guy. He fits these odd roles better than say, The Rock or John Cena would. And he excels here. Jonathan Goff is really, really good too. Maybe the best performance Iu0026#39;ve seen from him.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe rest of the actors are okay, I guess. Rupert Grint is here and heu0026#39;s quite distracting. The little girl is…well, I found she spoke more like an adult than a child, a common problem in Shyamalan films.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe thing about this movie that baffles me is that despite its interesting premise, it doesnu0026#39;t really do much with it. Itu0026#39;s a really self contained film, but I honestly felt it needed more. Perhaps a 10-15 minute scene outside the cabin to introduce the characters? Maybe other people (cops, family) concerned about them? Something to give the movie a bit more narrative complexity?u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt also follows the same formula as Split and Old, with flashbacks doing a lot of heavy lifting, narratively. Yet, itu0026#39;s missing that special Shyamalan flair that those films had and I really enjoyed. It sorta ends how youu0026#39;d expect it to end.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAll this sounds like I really hate this movie, but I donu0026#39;t. Itu0026#39;s got cool ideas, I think it actually had a homosexual couple that felt like they needed to be homosexual for the story (not necessary, but cool), and I found it kind of sweet at the end. I also thought there were some cool visual moments, and snazzy camera work, but I felt it needed this to prevent it from being totally listless at times.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI canu0026#39;t help but feel Shyamalan is sticking to a formula: a lower budget, confined film with lots of flashbacks and (sometimes) based on a little known property. Weirdly, this movie couldu0026#39;ve used some of this colorful weirdness. Dare I say, I miss the old Shyamalan.”