Knock at The Cabin [2023]

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The story is solid, but the filmmaking is not… [Shyamalan’s] directorial choices feel as amateurish and contrived as ever. – Louisa Moore, Screen Zealots

Universal Pictures creates and distributes theatrical and non-theatrical filmed entertainment. Universal's theatrical slate includes films developed internally, along with co-productions, acquisitions, and films developed by outside partners and distributed by the studio. The standout performance comes from Dave Bautista, in his most tatted-up teddy bear mode possible, wearing glasses like he did in “ Blade Runner 2049” to suggest the gentle boy inside his grizzly physique. For a movie about how humans choose to interact with one another, his acting is incredibly disarming here and sometimes moving in how he chooses to speak so gently while enacting a plan filled with the unthinkable. His character Leonard is a second-grade teacher from Chicago who has united with three other people (played by Rupert Grint, Abby Quinn, and Nikki Amuka-Bird) who have also had life-changing visions of the apocalypse. They approach a cabin in the woods with sharp weapons in hand, and they do not want to hurt the people inside. But they will enact the violence that they feel they must. Shyamalan hasn’t added one, allowing the whole film to play as straightforwardly as possible, much to the film’s credit. – Dan Bayer, Next Best Picture Chowblaster Infomercial - Enjoy an extended cut of the TV informercial from the film that features an appearance by M. Night Shyamalan himself.

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This particular trip to a cabin in the woods doesn’t involve a book bound in human flesh and inked in blood. Instead, we see parents Eric (Jonathan Groff) and Andrew (Ben Aldridge) and their daughter Wen (Kristen Cui) taking a vacation in an idyllic rented cabin by a lake. But their peaceful vacation is cut short by the arrival of four visitors armed with strange hand-made "tools". Leonard (Dave Bautista), Sabrina (Nikki Amuka-Bird), Adriane (Abby Quinn), and Redmond (Rupert Grint) are there not to harm or hurt Eric, Andrew, and little Wen, but to warn them of their visions for the end of the world and that the fate of all humanity is in their hands.

On the other hand, there are some good aspects. Dave Bautista, who plays one of the strangers, Leonard, is an inviting presence on screen. He can be menacing by his sheer size, but his performance ably fights against first impressions. Rupert Grint, who play another stranger, Redmond, brings a bit of dark humor. He's probably the scariest of the strangers. I'll also mention that even though I don't believe they are well-developed characters, Ben Aldridge and Jonathan Groff, who play the gay couple, Eric and Andrew, have good chemistry and react appropriately in this situation. I'll also say that no one does anything really dumb in this movie, which typically happens in these home invasion movies. Eric and Andrew, generally, make smart decisions to help protect each other and their daughter. So, the movie isn't frustrating because anyone is dumb.

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a b Haring, Bruce (October 13, 2021). "M. Night Shyamalan's Next Universal Pic Gets New Release Date & Official Title". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 14, 2021 . Retrieved October 14, 2021. Harrison, Alexander (May 6, 2022). "M. Night Shyamalan's New Movie Will Have An Old School Thriller Look". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on May 6, 2022 . Retrieved May 6, 2022. The prolific filmmaker has delivered one of his biggest surprises of all by telling a relatively straightforward thriller that places its characters in a fight for survival with wide-reaching implications. – Sam Stone, CBR Anderson, Erik (June 30, 2023). "Hollywood Critics Association 2023 Midseason HCA Awards: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Past Lives, Air are Top Winners". AwardsWatch. Archived from the original on July 1, 2023 . Retrieved July 3, 2023.