Knock at the Cabin | Film Review

 

I was really looking forward to seeing this movie. I'm a huge fan of M. Night Shyamalan, and as much as I didn't love the premise, I was pretty sure things wouldn't be as they seemed, as is the case with almost all of Shyamalan's movies.

While staying at a remote cabin, a family are held hostage by four strangers and forced to choose between protecting their family and preventing the apocalypse.

I didn't love this film for quite a few reasons. 

First of all, without giving anything away, the film wasn't what I thought it would be, which is my own fault because of what I expected from Shyamalan. I spent a lot of the time throughout the film waiting for something that wasn't coming, which made things feel slightly disappointing.

As I've mentioned, I didn't love the premise. I liked the idea of this family being taken hostage by the strangers (the trailer actually reminded me a bit of the movie 'The Strangers'), but I didn't like the reason they were doing it. And again, because this is so much of the film, it's clear why I didn't really take to it.

Some of the acting felt a bit comical, like the actors were making a parody of something, rather than actually being in this situation. Saying that, overall the acting was fine, and some of the actors were amazing, particularly Kristen Cui, who played Wen amazingly well. 

I didn't like the way the film progressed. Up until the last third, everything was very repetitive and you kind of knew what would happen. I was much more interested in the last third, but my slight excitement at that stage was ruined by the ending.

There were some aspects of the plot, particularly concerning the four strangers, that I would consider plot holes, and that took me out of the film a bit. There were also things about the film's events that were never explained, such as why these particular people (the family and the strangers) were 'chosen' in the first place. I get that not everything has to be explained, but I think I would have felt more of a connection to the characters if I understood them a bit more, and knowing why they were in this situation might help with that.

That's not to say I didn't like anything about the film. I loved the story of this couple, Eric and Andrew, played by Jonathan Groff and Ben Aldridge. I loved the flashbacks throughout the story (though some felt misplaced), and I loved that the film kept mentioning and making note of how strong and pure their love for each other and their daughter was. And I liked the way love was such a major theme of the film.

Overall, while I understand why some may love the film, personally it wasn't what I wanted it to be. I liked the characters, but thought the overall premise could have been better.

4/10