Knock at the Cabin - Movie Review

Introduction

M Night Shyamalan the living embodiment of the phrase It's either hit or miss has made a new film let's talk about that.

Story

So knock at the cabin like I said it's a new M Night Shyamalan film there's this couple who's staying at this cabin with their daughter and then four people who apparently watched way too much Blues Brothers were like we're on a mission from God so to give this family this ultimatum one of you needs to die or else the apocalypse is gonna happen that's it it's very simple that's what I like about a good Shyamalan film a character based film simple keep it in the pocket just have it Thrive off of tension and Intrigue and here we go now.

Batista Bomb

Dave Batista is the biggest star in the film so I'm gonna go ahead and start out with him also he's the leader of these four folks I mean obviously just look at him like who's the leader I'm gonna go ahead and say Alpha Batista right there was anyone gonna challenge him anyone gonna want to fight him for leadership no it's not gonna happen I thought everyone in the film did a great job but Batista continues to impress me dude was a movie star after Guardians of the Galaxy no doubt but it was Blade Runner 2049 Rob was like that's not just a movie star he's an actor he could have rested on The Laurels of that Guardians of the Galaxy money but he didn't was like I want to expand and refine my craft to be an artist I love that I respect him for that this is one of the more relevant timely films in terms of social constructs of today the shyamalan's made part of the Intrigue is whether or not you're dealing with a situation that has to do with thought Bubbles and people online who have the same mindset maybe they see the same things and maybe those things aren't real but to them, it's very real if this actually really appreciate that the film had some great tension and Intrigue you're like are these folks Maniacs are they crazy are they right that's when the film's at its best when the audience is wrestling with this you're given enough information to be like could be true however subtlety being an art form in a world where Shyamalan had subtlety sprinkled all throughout the Sixth Sense yeah he might have lost the art of that craft sometimes to the film's detriment.

Problem

Problem with this movie is you have enough information to go either way there are these little nuances that you catch in here details that are supposed to be vague details the audience is supposed to pick up on and wrestle with the situation then the characters and talking with themselves break down the details that's supposed to be there for the audience to catch one small example of this I'm just going to give you it's not a spoiler at all it's just an assessment an assessment that some might have made from the trailers these four folks are like hey we need to do this thing or the apocalypse is gonna happen there are four of them a cool thing to glean from the audience is like oh there are four of them kind of like the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse that's a cool detail then at a point in the movie one of them says there are four of them it's likely the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse it's just one example to illustrate a thing that happens throughout the film it's like the fear is the audience won't ever get it it's not that they won't it's all a matter of when and again sometimes you want the audience to grab everything right then and there even if that means a character tells the audience exactly what they're supposed to notice at any given time but it's a lot more fun if the audience doesn't get it maybe a month from now a year from now 10 years from now they're talking with their friends their friends bring up a detail or maybe they watch YouTube videos breaking down the details and we're like oh I didn't catch that oh that's awesome I feel like explaining things breaking things down in cran for the audience takes an experience from would-be chess to Checkers I still enjoy Checkers it's just fundamentally different than chess and I could have gone for a more ambiguous film maybe a nuanced Ending by the end of this film you have the answers to whether or not these folks are saving the world from the apocalypse or they're just dead open endings or ending things open to interpretations true they used to drive me nuts but I'm at the grumpy old man energy phase in my life where my brain has realized that that's kind of how life works so my brain has learned to enjoy that thing which used to cause it pain storytelling Stockholm syndrome but maybe but it is what it is.

Conclusion

In the end I enjoyed knocking the cabin I know I feel like I prattled on more about the thing that bothered me in the film rather than the things I enjoyed don't mean for that to be the case just as it is I feel like negatives require more of an elaboration than positives this movie did what it needed to do it had a mystery Some solid tension you don't want this family to go through this choice that they might not even have to do and this movie has a couple we'll say logic leaps like logic blind spots that characters would bring up granted most any film has moments like that if they didn't How It Should Have Ended as a YouTube channel just wouldn't exist but it is really frustrating as an audience member when you spot it immediately and you're like why is nobody in this cabin bringing this up then you feel overqualified like you just talk your way out of the situation among a cabin full of crazies like I could do that knowing that you'd be tied up on scared shitless yourself but still Point remains I do feel like there is some how it should have ended low hanging fruit in this film you know you better than I know you as I say so my my job here is to just inform you of that if that's going to bother you to the point of not having fun it's probably not your cup of tea if you can look past you can probably have yourself a good time that is to say a good time no alcohol required for better for worse this is a Shyamalan film I feel like this film leans harder into the better than the worst all right so knock at the cabin have you seen it what did you think about it whatever you thought comment below let me know.