Let’s talk about “Knock at the Cabin”

What would you think if someone got into your house and told you that you need to sacrifice one member of your family or humanity will end? Wait, what? Yes, that’s the premise of Knock at the Cabin.

A little girl and her dads are on vacation in a cabin in the middle of nowhere when four people armed with strange weapons appear and say one of them should be sacrificed.

Is this horror?

I’ve seen people rebuking the movie, and I get why, but let’s take a minute to think about it. Why do you feel so… well, nothing.

When the story starts, it is promising. It is not something you’ve seen a thousand times in other movies, and you can feel the tension. It is an impossible choice to make. Here, the problem starts: it creates expectations.

These expectations are not fulfilled. The movie is supposed to be a psychological thriller, but you never feel your heart race. Instead, it is slow and calm; all you see are four lunatics and one guy screaming at them. I believe the other guy is supposed to be in shock, but I’m not sure.

Incongruence and numbness

The plot has flaws and never a twist or anything that can wake you up from the numbness you start to feel along the way.

Why is their sacrifice going to save the world? Why would the others kill themselves when they fail to convince the family? Why is everyone so calm at the bar in the end? Why is the little girl so calm too? Isn’t she upset that she lost a dad?

Knock at the Cabin lacks logic and, more importantly, emotion. Yet, don’t think for a minute that the cast is guilty of any of this. The cast is good. I wouldn’t say Oscar-worthy, but good enough. The little Wen (Kristen Cui) is perfect, a great actress, no doubt.

We expected more

I always feel disappointed when a movie ends, and I feel nothing. In this case, it started in a good direction. Then, suddenly, it looked like they needed to finish it as fast as possible, and started making many bad decisions. So, the disappointment was even bigger.

I believe Shyamalan wanted to give us something to think about - what would you do? It worked in the first 20 to 30 minutes. No more. It is simply about a particular morality and becomes repetitive.

If would I recommend the movie? Well, if you don’t have many things to do (or watch), and your expectations are low, then yes. It is different, so it may be interesting, but it definitely lacks something.

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