[FILM]
KNOCK AT THE CABIN
Leonard (Dave Bautista, right): an altogether unusual horror villain.
★★★★ OUT NOW / CERT 15 100 MINS
DIRECTOR M. Night Shyamalan
CAST Jonathan Groff, Ben Aldridge, Dave Bautista, Rupert Grint, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Kristen Cui
PLOT Eric (Groff), Andrew (Aldridge) and their young daughter Wen (Cui) decide to get away from it all at an idyllic cabin in the woods. Their bliss is cut short when four strangers, led by the mysterious Leonard (Bautista), turn up to declare that one of them must be sacrificed to prevent the end of the world.
AFTER SPECTRAL THERAPISTS, agriculturally inclined aliens and homicidal house plants, it’s quite refreshing to be confronted by an M. Night Shyamalan production in which the most ridiculous thing is the luxurious in-house library at an Airbnb. The film’s remote getaway (4.96 rating — Wi-Fi, free parking and end-of-days cultists included) is a bolt-hole to die for. It is, in fact, the perfect place for Eric (Jonathan Groff ), Andrew (Ben Aldridge) and Wen (Kristen Cui) to spend some family time in the bosom of mother nature. It’s also, at first glance, an eye-rollingly tired setting for a bit of stabby-stabby horror. But Shyamalan is never one to do things by the book, and this eschatological thriller, like its setting, has more going on than a cursory glance at its listing would suggest.