Knock at the Cabin is one of the M. Night Shyamalan films that I have been waiting for this year. This film, adapted from the novel by Paul Tremblay, has an interesting concept that combines home invasion with the theme of the apocalypse.
This film tells the story of a girl named Wen and her two fathers who are on
vacation in a remote cabin when four strangers come to them. The four
strangers include Leonard, a PE teacher, Sabrina, a nurse, Adriane, a cook,
and Redmond, an employee for a gas company. The four are from different towns
and Leonard explains that they were led to come to this cabin and gives one of
them the choice to sacrifice himself for the safety of the whole world. Andrew
and Eric must choose between their family and the rest of the world.
To be honest, this concept was very interesting and intrigued me so I decided
to read his novel The Cabin at The Worlds End. Even though it doesn't explain
the story 100% as a whole, I started to understand the big picture and the
small details that were missed while watching the film.
I started noticing some small details after reading the novel, namely the four
people, Leonard, Sabrina, Adriane, and Redmond, all four had names consisting
of 7 letters and the number of knocks on the door when the four of them first
came. the cabin has 7 beats. The four of them were wearing button-down shirts
and jeans and if you paid close attention every time they executed them, they
looked stiff and didn't budge one bit then after the execution ended they
suddenly cried and trembled as if they didn't do it. . didn't realize what
they had done. They have no control and they may be right, but they have no
choice.
Leonard, Sabrina, and Adriane looked equally shocked that the disaster had
happened and was exactly what they had seen in their visions. Eric slowly
starts to look doubtful about what happened while Andrew sticks to the
principle that everything was a deliberate coincidence. And in my opinion,
Andrew and Eric describe us all as a mirror of humanity.
The audience is indeed not presented with the background of this whole story
and in this case, it is not needed. The story goes straight to the point and
that's fine because there isn't much time to explain it all in one film.
The story itself is quite simple but the plot was able to make me enter the
story itself, question and doubt a few things. Even though the beginning to
the middle of the film perfectly describes the contents of the novel, the
ending changes. I think I understand why that part was changed in the film,
but there are two scenes in the novel that I think are important but are
omitted in the film, namely Leonard and Wen's conversation at night before
going to bed and Sabrina's explanation which makes her feel more human because
she doubts what happened.
Without the need to show a lot of blood, for me, this film feels gripping and
tense. The acting of actors was able to make me believe and feel fear and
doubt, as well as the shooting and music. Kristen Cui as Wen with an
expression that makes me feel like frowning too, she's a good actor.
This film and novel made me think about many things even after watching and
reading them. It is human to have doubts but to the point where we believe
that some things are just coincidences. The story may seem absurd as well as
the details, some of which seem to be taken from the Bible but not overly
religious. It's a shame that the film is too one-sided while the novel itself
keeps me guessing what happened until the end.
Of course, not everyone will have the same experience when watching this film
or reading the novel, but I feel a lot of things related to the current
reality. So what will you choose, save your family or save humanity?
SCORE
7/10
Knock at the Cabin is a good film despite all the controversy in it. I also
like how the ending is made by M. Night Shyamalan in this film because it
seems more reasonable.
The good quality of the acting from the cast, coupled with the intense
atmosphere present from the start of the film keeps me focused on following
each phase.
Various mysteries that are present are also explained quite clearly,
minimizing plot holes in the film. For mystery thriller lovers, Knock at the
Cabin is one of the best film choices for you to watch this year.