Knock at the Cabin (2023) Review

 "Will you make a choice?"

-Leonard

Eric (Jonathan Groff), his husband, Andrew (Ben Aldridge), and their daughter, Wen (Kristen Cui), take a family vacation to an isolated cabin in the woods.  However, their relaxation is interrupted by four unexpected guests who have an impossible choice for the family to make.

What Works:  

What I love about this movie is how fast it gets going.  The opening scene is what we saw in the trailer, where Leonard (Dave Bautista) walks out of the woods to talk to Wen.  It quickly escalates to Eric and Andrew being tied up in the cabin.  We hit the ground running and almost everything in the trailer is from these early scenes that set the stage.

The entire movie is wonderfully paced.  Sure, it slows down to give us a moment to breathe from time to time.  We get quick flashbacks that fill in the backstories of Eric, Andrew, and Wen and there's plenty of time to develop their characters, but that doesn't stop the action from rapidly picking back up.  It helps that most of the movie takes place at one location and it forces the filmmakers to find ways to keep the story engaging while sticking with one setting for such long periods of time.  It's never dull.

Jonathan Groff and Ben Aldridge have amazing chemistry and are excellent leads.  They are very likable, especially Groff, who I've found to be impossible to dislike, even when he is playing villains.  I especially love Aldridge's character, Andrew, as I found him to be the most relatable character in the movie.  He's pissed off pretty much the entire movie due to how scary, yet ridiculous, their situation is. He doesn't buy into Leonard's B.S. and he's itching for the opportunity to defend his family.  I found his righteous anger and skepticism made it easy to put myself in his shoes, which makes him a great protagonist.

Dave Bautista does an awesome job as Leonard.  He's certainly the antagonist of the movie, but he's not a villain, and that makes him interesting.  His whole group does a great job, but Bautista's presence, on multiple levels, make him an imposing force for our family.  Leonard is a fascinating character and I don't know a ton of actors who could pull off the role.

Finally, at its core, this movie is an ethical dilemma.  Would you sacrifice a member of your family to save the world?  That's it.  It's very simple and straightforward from there.  That question is asked and the movie plays out.   I love it, especially when you consider the track record of the film's director, M. Night Shyamalan.  

What Sucks:

I didn't care for some of the cinematography.  There were a few unnecessary closeups for artsy reasons. Don't get me wrong, artsy shots can be fun, but when it impedes on properly telling the story, they shouldn't be used.  Sometimes a simple wide shot showing the full action is best and that wasn't always done here.

Verdict:

Knock at the Cabin is probably my favorite Shyamalan movie since The Sixth Sense.  It's great work thanks to a simple and straightforward story, excellent pacing, and awesome performances across the board, but particularly from Bautista, Groff, and Aldridge.  I didn't love the cinematography, but this movie has absolutely got it going on.

 9/10: Great