Movie Man Darian Watching All Night Long

Knock At The Cabin

This is one of M. Night Shyamalan’s strongest films in years as it’s packed with strong performances with its cast and has constant twists and turns that keep you on edge the entire time. Now he’s Been hit or miss with me as he has films like the last Airbender and the happening but then he’ll deliver to the audience high caliber films such as Split and the visit so you never know what to expect with  his movies but that’s also the appeal of going into a M Night movie is the fact you know it’ll be a original well thought out story now if he sticks the landing you have to watch to see if he does and I can confidently say Knock At The Cabin is a knockout for him. 

Firstly, This is a incredibly well written now I say that as M. Night Shyamalan gives one of his most layered films in years! Now I’ve been constantly saying for the last couple years he’s slowly starting to make truly great quality films as the visit was a fantastic concept that had some flaws but was a solid film. Then he did Split in 2017 which was very much a character driven film and that’s what I’m going to touch upon in a moment. So for the last couple of years now he’s definitely been finding his footing with his horror/ thriller films he’s been giving the audience. Now what I think he has excelled at in the last few films he’s given us is their very much character driven story’s so he focuses first on the characters and then the stylistic nature of the setting around the bunch of characters we have to follow. Now I felt that great structure with Knock At The Cabin as the first scene of the film is a interaction between Dave Bautista and Kristen Cui it’s about a 5-8 minute scene and we learn about the nature of how both characters are emotionally and it’s such a great scene that slowly builds and builds with fantastic writing, acting and great building of the tension that keeps you on edge.  Now what’s so good about his writing on this film is he isn’t worried on the next scenes 5 big moments and all the visual stuff that’s yet to come he takes it one scene at a time letting the audience enjoy the characters we are presented with and finding out who they are what their motives are and if their a protagonist or antagonist. This is his most character based film since Split as the core characters we are having our time spent on is Dave Bautista and his small group of people he came to a cabin with along with a Same sex couple and their adopted daughter and the way all the characters get their moment to shine and flesh out their characters was greatly done. Now the film uses a lot of social commentary that some will outright call preachy or annoying for its dabble in social political themes but the film discusses things such as Hate crimes, conspiracy theorists and it’s done in a way that I thought was effective in how to get its message across without it being hit you over the head repetitive in its nature. This film stays in a single location for the entire duration of its film and the morality question M. Night asks the audience if you could stop Armageddon by sacrificing a loved one would you do it and now that on paper seems like a simplistic narrative but he blew me away with the constant turns this film went in and the sheer concept he comes up with with where the characters go was incredible as your constantly leavening more about their past and why they are the way they are. The writing is some of M. Night Shyamalan’s strongest of his career and a huge reason why this film works so damn well comes down to the fantastic storytelling that blew me away. 

Secondly, the performances from the entire cast was solid! Now the big performance everyone will say stole the show and for me as well was Dave Bautista who gave one of the most tender and unsettling performances and one that is truly one of his best of his career. He plays this man who at first glance you don’t know what to make of him he’s not exactly a total good guy but he isn’t trying to kill the residents inside the cabin either he walks a fine line between sweet and sociopathic and the way he executes that onscreen was incredible. Then you have Jonathan Groff  and Ben Aldridge giving amazing turns of the couple that just want these people to go away now Groff is more of the soft spoken of the two and try’s to reason with calmness and reason where Ben Aldridge’s character is more intense with his actions and won’t stop until he knows these people will leave his husband and daughter alone and both give solid turns. You genuinely feel the love they have for one another and will do whatever is needed to protect their kid while also trying to get out of this cabin alive and Ben Aldridge shines in a very emotionally tense performance where you can feel the sheer panic and concern on his eyes and he screams kicks and fights his way to get these people to listen to him and even tho he’s coming out of a place of anger with how he sounds he’s only looking for the best interest of his loved ones in that cabin and the way he’s able to present that sheer emotion was amazing a truly great performance that I hope isn’t overlooked. Then you have Kristen Chu who probably has the most overlooked performance in the entire film she brings so much to the role of Wen who is very much the audience and is asking why the people who arrived why their at the cabin? What’s their motive? And will they hurt her dads now she plays the character from a very sweet perspective as when she first meets Bautista she easily could of run but she gives him a chance and even tho she’s on high alert because he’s a stranger she still talks to him which shows how welcoming she is as a person and tells you right their how trustful she is with others and the sheer way she thinks of how to get out of the cabin or alert others she shows such raw emotional strength and vulnerability that will blow you away. Everyone gives top notch performances but it’s the sheer brilliance of Dave Bautista that will blow you away. 

Lastly, Knock At The Cabin as a whole is one of M. Night Shyamalan’s best films in years as he spent a great deal of time on fleshing out the characters with rich depth and complexity while also giving that signature style he’s known for. The film has constant twists and turns that are well executed and don’t feel like you can see it a mile away but feels genuinely well structured with horror elements that will shock you and has a terrific cast of actors all giving outstanding performances that will have you engaged the whole way through. All the while giving great social political themes and morality themes that will have you talking about what the film wants the audience to take away from it which will spark great discussions. Knock At The Cabin is one of Shyamalan’s best films in recent years that have genuine thrills and a compelling original story that will have you guessing what the outcome of these characters will be the whole way through overall Knock At The Cabin is a truly great film that I recommend everyone go see. 

This film revolves around a same sex couple and their adopted daughter who is visited by unwanted guests who tell them about how to prevent the apocalypse and the only way to do so is to sacrifice a loved one but will they comply?

Rated R : Violence and Language

Dave Bautista : Bautista delivers a terrifying yet sensitive performance that blew me away! Now I will say this man is the greatest wrestler turned actor I’ve ever seen. He has been picking projects that have constantly have stretched his abilities as an actor. From Guardians Of The Galaxy which yes is a big intimidating character at first but then we learn how sensitive he is under the surface to his roles in the murder mystery sequel of Knives Out with Glass Onion he’s also done big scale epics like Dune and even battled James Bond. He’s constantly raising the bar on what he can do with his characters and I love that and his work on Knock At The Cabin is truly terrific. As he plays this sociopath with a golden heart as when we first see him I thought he was going to be this loud bombastic scary personality but he’s very soft spoken and has very twisted things in his head but he’s trying to come from a place of love in his mind and it’s such a layered person he takes on. As all the other characters express their message to the couple in the cabin by other emotional means but Dave Bautista always stays calm and tries his best to keep the peace between the people he brought into the cabin and the people who are not expecting them their. The way he expresses his frustration in such a tender way made for me to instantly become engaged in what he’s doing onscreen. He chews up the scenery with this quiet and yet mentally unstable personality who thinks they’re doing the right thing by using violent means to express his point and it’s truly amazingly well brought to life by Bautista. As the people who’s cabin is broken into wants them to leave and he constantly is trying to get them to corporate with him and after time and time again of using very calm measures their are bursts of anger and violence through getting his points across but it’s done in a way that he feels so sickened by having to use violence as he’s not that kind of person and the way you can see in his eyes and his heart that he’s a good person with really mentally jarring intentions just trying to look our best for the human race you are in sheer awe of the depth Dave Bautista is going for this role. He is able to terrify you and also work his way into your heart all at once and the way Dave Bautista explores the darkness and depth of this man’s heart in such a engaging way that will have your jaw on the floor he shows such incredible ranges of emotion with this performance and it’s truly one of the best performances I’ve seen him give onscreen. I cannot wait to see what he does next as he keeps surprising me with the roles he takes on and I would love to see him do more horror related roles as he showed beautifully here he has such a strong suit for these type of roles. Overall a truly menacing and yet tender performance from Bautista that  is truly captivating. 

M. Night Shyamalan : M Night is back and with one of his best written and directed films in years! As mentioned earlier he does best when he is doing character driven films with a stylistic environment surrounding the characters which is exactly what He provides in Knock At The Cabin so brilliantly. Now this film is an adaptation of a book but what is so great of his take on the novel book source is he puts that M Night stylistic touch to the frame that has you engaged the moment the film starts what I mean is that uneasy feeling of anything that could happen to these characters is planted in your head the moment Dave Bautista appears onscreen. He creates that sense of tension with the characters and the audience of never knowing the true nature of what these people will do to make this loving couple decide on how to save mankind. It’s not a straightforward horror it has horror elements for sure but I would label it a psychological horror film which is exactly what he brought with Split. Now what he does so well with this film aside from the fantastic character depth he presents on every person we see is the emotional stakes as since the couple is tasked with having to make a choice of having to sacrifice one you see the relationship between these two men before they were in the cabin and the relationship with their adopted daughter. So M Night is getting the audience so emotionally invested in this family that we already know one of them has to go but by flash-backing to the events of before this tense situation we see how much love they have for one another and that now makes it more harder to watch as both of them don’t want to be in a situation where they have to choose who lives and dies for the better of saving the human race. That emotional grasp he has on you and it’s so smartly accomplished through the fantastic direction and sharp writing and he does deliver genuine scares that keep you on your toes that never feels gory for the sake of just giving the audience a scare but it has intention and meaning behind every violent action. On top of the style of it all he also has very deep social messages on conspiracy theorists and targeted hate crimes and very real world things and he goes places with those topics that I didn’t expect him to and I respect him for it because he didn’t sugar coat it he was honest in his message he was trying to tell. Some as I said earlier may find it overly political but I thought he had the right amount without it becoming overly preachy with the commentary in the story as the story itself is engaging but packing it with even more layers and depth gave it a very rich complexity that as the viewer you can break it down and think of the hidden meanings he put in the frame which you can talk about long after the film is done. He delivers a film that is character driven and focuses on establishing motives, emotional relationships that bind the characters and the emotional stakes of the situation before giving that stylistic violence and horror he’s known for. And I like that he prioritized character over style as in the past he has done it the other way around and it’s never resulted well so for him to put the needs of well written characters and then surround it with fantastic style and edge of your seat conflict made it more enjoyable because from a writing standpoint it made the story itself more enjoyable because I felt more attached to the characters and we’re constantly rooting for them to make it out alive. I really feel like M. Night has found his footing with This film and has knocked it out of the park with the writing and direction he really gives great characters depth, a engaging story wrapped with great social commentary that’s woven perfectly into the narrative while giving the fun thrills and overall he really delivers on every level. M Night Shyamalan gives his best directed film in years with his work on Knock at the cabin.