Looked at one way, a lot of creepy stories seem determined to convince us not to go on bucolic vacations. Nothing good ever happens in cabins, especially in the woods, and Knock at the Cabin is no exception. The latest film from director M. Night Shyamalan is based on Paul Tremblay’s novel The Cabin at the End of the World, the original title of which gives a better idea of what’s at stake here—or what might be at stake, anyway.
The movie’s summary is brief:
Buy the Book
The Cabin at the End of the World
While vacationing at a remote cabin, a young girl and her parents are taken hostage by four armed strangers who demand that the family make an unthinkable choice to avert the apocalypse. With limited access to the outside world, the family must decide what they believe before all is lost.
As the apparent leader of the armed strangers, Dave Bautista seems to be learning hard into one possibility: that these four are totally delusional. But maybe not! And maybe there’s something more happening here than a choice very like the one Jack Harkness had to make in Torchwood: Children of Earth. The trailer is effectively spooky, but also purposefully vague—and it’s Shyamalan, so you know a twist is likely.
Along with Dave Bautista, Knock at the Cabin stars Jonathan Groff (The Matrix Resurrections) and Ben Aldridge (Pennyworth) as the two dads of Wen (Kristen Cui); the rest of Bautista’s gang consists of Nikki Amuka-Bird (Old), Rupert Grint (Servant), and Abby Quinn (Mad About You).
Knock at the Cabin is in theaters February 3, 2023.
