M. Night Shyamalan, renowned director of popular Apple TV hits like “Servant”, “Glass Series”, and “Old”, returns with yet another horror thriller. Steve Desmond and Michael Sherman, who initially wrote the screenplay, also took part in writing the film.
The spine-chilling thriller “Knock at the Cabin” delves into religious beliefs and an urgent request brought by four strangers demanding a family to make a difficult choice to avert the apocalypse.
- Knock at the Cabin Trailer
- Release Date and Where To Watch
- Cast of Knock at the Cabin
- The Story (Spoilers)
- Plot Review & Ending (Spoilers)
- Reviews & Ratings
Knock at the Cabin Trailer
The first trailer was released on September 22, 2022, creating a striking contrast between a seemingly cheerful getaway and the potential end of the world. It provides a glimpse into the characters and their roles in the story.
During the vacation at a remote cabin, a young girl and her parents are taken hostage by a group of four armed strangers. The intruders compel the family to make an unthinkable choice to avert an apocalypse. With limited access to the outside world, the family must confront their beliefs and values to determine their course of action before it’s too late.
The second trailer was released on Christmas day, December 25, 2022.
On January 23, 2023, Universal released a behind-the-scenes featurette online. The video highlights director Shyamalan and some cast members discussing what attracted them to the project and what distinguishes it from other home-invasion and apocalyptic films.
The featurette focuses on the unique combination of these two subgenres, creating a distinctive and exceptional cinematic experience for the viewers.
Release Date and Where To Watch
Knock at the Cabin premiered in select cinemas in the United States on February 3, 2023, by Universal Pictures. The movie is still playing in theaters.
The movie is now also available to stream online at home through digital platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and Vudu. The movie costs $19.99 to rent or $24.99 to buy in up to UHD resolution.
Cast of Knock at the Cabin
Directed by M. Night Shyamalan, the movie stars Dave Bautista as Leonard, along with the following top cast:
- Jonathan Groff as Eric
- Ben Aldridge as Andrew
- Nikki Amuka-Bird as Sabrina
- Kristen Cui as Wen
- Abby Quinn as Adriane
- Rupert Grint as Redmond
- M. Night Shyamalan as an infomercial host
The Story (Spoilers)
“Knock at the Cabin” depicts the story of Eric and Andrew, played by Johnathan Groff and Ben Aldridge, who take their adopted daughter Wen on a lakeside cabin retreat. The peaceful vacation takes a dark turn when they are left tied down in a hostage situation and forced to decide who to kill between the three of them.
To prevent the global apocalypse the family must decide to make a sacrifice. Otherwise, the apocalypse will result in horrible events to happen like tsunamis, the spread of the “x9 virus” which is similar to the Covid-19 virus, and unexplained plane crashes resulting in panes falling from the sky.
The four strangers experienced the same visions of the future – leading them to go to the remote cabin and tell Andrew, Eric, and Wen that they need to make a sacrifice to stop the apocalypse and the world’s doom. Every time they resist, one of the four intruders must kill themselves one by one to save the world – if one from the family does not choose to make a sacrifice.
At the beginning of the opening scene, the young daughter (Kristen Cui), Wen, is playing with a jar catching grasshoppers. A hidden easter egg, the grasshopper insect, trapping them in jars, much like the characters in the film who have been trapped in the cabin.
M. Night Shyamalan used many minor film details that could be seen as hidden easter eggs like the colors of the four intruders’ shirts, giving away who they were. Another detail was the swords they used to kill themselves and the white face masks that could have been symbolism to the 5th horseman who symbolized judgment. And Jehovah, witnesses who may have been seen in the light by Eric.
Another interesting thing to note was Wen’s facial scar she was given at birth and one of the reasons Eric and Andrew had picked her up at the orphanage.
Plot Review & Ending (Spoilers)
“Knock at the Cabin” is based on Paul Tremblay’s novel “The cabin at the end of the world“; Tremblay’s novel has a similar version to the film, with characters Andrew and Eric, who are fathers to Wen, and other certain bits of the plot. However, some parts have entirely changed from the book, like the endings, which had been decidedly changed within the film by Shyamalan.
Wen was initially the one who was left killed in Tremblay’s novel. But instead, in the movie, Eric is the one who convinces Andrew to kill him. As he explains to Andrew, he sees a vision that the four strangers are telling the truth.
They are the four horsemen of the apocalypse, Malice (Redmond), the Healing nurse (Adriane), Nurturing(Sabrina), she’s the cook, and Guidance, he’s a gentle school teacher (Leonard). Soon later, right as the apocalypse could have happened.
Planes came crashing down right before their eyes because Andrew and Eric had just watched Leonard, the last of the four horsemen played by (Dave Batista) kill himself. After all, they refused to kill one of their family members.
Eventually, Eric convinces Andrew to shoot Eric, and then he and Wen leave the cabin and go to the nearby dinner. But, first, they see they’re all honest about what they claim. Then seeing the names on their ids had been all correct, and a picture of one of the characters, Sabrina, the cook, with her son, who she mentioned had a young son.
The movie viewers could tell they were speaking the truth when Andrew and Wen realized it at the dinner; they saw everything play out on television, at the dinner where the news was playing inside, and the anchor had reported an end to the plains crashing and cure to the x9 virus, and the apocalypse had stopped.
Before, Eric and Andrew believed them to be some weird cult people. And feared Ron from the Harry Potter series, who played Redmond was the guy at the bar years ago. One of them remembered him from that day; a man who could have been Redmond had become angered in a rage of violence and attacked Eric with a beer bottle; the whole scenario led Andrew to buy a weapon which also was the gun he used to shoot Eric.
The film’s theme and premise were good, yet many plot holes were not explained; for instance, why was Redmond’s character actually at the bar if he was actually at the bar, how Eric’s concussion fully healed, and why, and how last minute the apocalypse was saved even though the four strangers died.
Will there be a sequel?
At the end of the credits, there is no surprise end-of-credits scene of an actual knock at the cabin for another family, making us wonder if there will be a possible sequel to the film.
Reviews & Ratings
"Knock at the Cabin" is an enjoyable psychological thriller but the plot and suspense could have been better. The story lacked explanation and ends with an unsatisfying conclusion. The acting, cinematography, and visuals of the film scenes were well done.Rotten Tomatoes
IMDb
Metacritic
Our Score
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