Knock on the Cabin (2023)

SPOILER-ISH

A gay couple and their daughter are held captive at a Pennsylvania vacation cabin by a diverse group of vigilantes, who insist that one of the three must die to prevent the apocalypse. A pared back psychological horror by M. Night Shaymalan, complete with so many of the tropes he's established over the years. We have stilted, unanutal dialogue, an interguing enough premise stumblingly executed, odd characterizations, people watching 9/11 type world changing events on screen, a confused sense of messaging with vaugly religious overtones, a sprinkling of flashbacks to do  heavy lifting, a director cameo, and the signature "twist".

While Shaymalan movies became known for their twists early on, I think the director has become less interested in these over the years. This my represent one of the few ways in which M. Night can be said to have grown as a director over the years, or it may be yet another example of how he has gotten lazier. So basically there are two ways to go with the vigilantes mission, either they are correct and there is an apocalypse waiting in queue, or they are off their rockers. The latter option would represent a real risk and departure from Shaymalan's earlier work, so guess which way he went? 

This is an awkward movie, silly at its core, it is so predictably Shaymalan that it's hard to believe it is based on a novel. There is one reflective moment near the end that I thought kind of worked, and their are a few lines which indicate that what happens in the cabin represents a once in a generation test of the human spirit, something acted out on a small scale throughout human history to prove if our species is worthy; now that is intriguing. On the whole however, it's just not very good, it failed to elicit the stong emotional sense, from both actors and myself, which the thing needed. For a would be auture with such a promising start, it floors me that N. Night Shaymalan is a noticeably worse film maker now, then he was twenty years ago. His film made me mildly mad. Also the special effects were embarsing. *