Watch the trailer for M. Night Shyamalan’s latest twisted tale, Knock at the Cabin (starring Dave Bautista, Jonathan Groff, Ben Aldridge, Kristen Cui, Abby Quinn, Rupert Grint and Nikki Amuka-Bird).
After the intriguing story and unexpected twist of The Sixth Sense earned M. Night Shyamalan six Academy Award nominations and the declaration by Newsweek that he was “The Next Spielberg”, he was thrust onto a pedestal by fans and movie critiques alike and became one of the most debated filmmakers in the world to date.
He had started to become most well known for his strange films with even stranger unexpected twists. His audiences often spent the movie trying to guess what was going to happen and were left staring at the screen wondering what on earth they’d just watched. Shyamalan had taken a break from twists for a while and in the last couple of years had started funding his work independently so he could keep creative control of his visions, but after his 2015 film The Visit, he has made a strong return to his twists and original ways of filming.
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What is Knock at the Cabin?
The upcoming film, Knock at the Cabin, is loosely based on Paul Tremblay’s horror novel The Cabin at the End of the World. In the story, we follow a family (Eric, Andrew, and their adopted daughter Wen) who have rented a cabin in the middle of nowhere so they can decompress and unwind in a peaceful area where nothing can reach them. Unfortunately, their relaxation comes to an abrupt halt when four strangers invade their little cabin and demand that they make a choice to prevent the end of the world.
It only makes sense that Shyamalan would be the one to adapt this twisted, sweat-inducing horror story that was either strongly loved or intensely hated by readers into a film and that he’s doing it with Jarin Blaschke (who was also involved in The Lighthouse, Servant and The Northman) as his side as the director of photography.
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Who Should We Expect to See?
In Knock at the Cabin, there are seven characters set in a very limited and cramped space. With nowhere to go and an impending doom constantly looming over their heads, it is a very stressful situation for everyone involved.
M. Night Shyamalan has carefully selected his cast to ensure movie watchers would be properly enraptured by both the story and the characters. The first person to be cast was Dave Bautista, who, Shyamalan explained, had been picked due to the role he’d played in Blade Runner 2049. Harry Potter star Rupert Grint (who also acted in Shyamalan’s Servant) was cast shortly after.
The two phenomenal actors were soon joined by Nikki Amuka-Bird (previously in Shymalan’s Old), Hamilton and Mindhunter star Jonathon Groff, Ben Aldridge who Stars in Pennyworth and Little Woman (2019)’s Abby Quinn.
In a tweet that also announced the wrap of the film, Shyamalan said that the story really changed him both as a person and as an artist. Whether you hate or love him, his new film is going to be worth talking about.
Knock at the Cabin is set to come out in theatres on the 3rd of February, 2023.