"Wen" (Kristen Cui) is out collecting grasshoppers when she encounters the statuesque and friendly "Leonard" (Dave Bautista). When his three friends turn up though, she gets spooked and runs to her remote cabin home where her dads "Eric" (Jonathan Groff) and "Andrew" (Ben Aldridge) are chilling on the veranda. She is worried, and soon they are locked in with four seemingly hostile folks outside demanding entry. The doors and windows are no match for their rather medieval weapons and soon the boys are tied to their chairs fearing the worst in homophobic behaviour. Thing is, the four appear to mean them no harm - well, not directly anyway. "Leonard", in a calm and measured manner, now regales them with a tale foretelling an apocalyptic end for mankind unless this small family make a very, very, tough decision in the next twenty four hours. Should they not, then we soon discover that things will not go well for them, but do not go at all well for their four "persuaders" either. Bautista is quite good here, as is Aldridge and for a while the plot is actually quite intriguing. The ultimate catch-22 with a question posed to rational people - who love each other - that would test any of us. Sadly, though, M Night Shyamalan can't keep the intrigue sustained and it rather runs out of steam from the middle onwards. Groff doesn't really show up and neither, for that matter, does Rupert Grint. I also felt that young Cui takes a little too much screen time and grates after a while. It's the shortest of short stories, and might have worked better had it just been the hour with a tighter narrative and less meandering. Still - it does ask a question that I'm not sure I could answer either in their position - and I did quite enjoy watching it.

Knock at the Cabin is an interesting premise that has a lot going for it in terms of atmosphere and mystique but fails to land a satisfactory ending. I was pleasantly surprised with the story structure. The movie wastes no time throwing the audience into the conflict within the opening frames of the film. This allowed for an increased focus on the main story while maintaining a decent pace. The first act of the film is great, as the audience is new to the story and the mystery is still fresh. But slowly, the plot starts to repeat the same beats resulting in a less engaging second act. As the film draws to its conclusion it’s ending is incredibly predictable which slightly worked for me but may be divisive to a general audience. I did enjoy the small flashbacks of the couple's life. It added much needed context without taking too much time away from the main story arch. The acting in the film is overall good, but there are some major characters that stand out from the rest of the cast. Dave Bautista was excellent, he had a very serious, menacing presence, but had a kind and gentle nature to him that begged the audience to trust him. This was by far one of his more complex roles in his career and I think he did a great job. Abby Quinn had probably my favorite performance of the film. Her dramatic scenes were mesmerizing and really drew me in. She had such subtle facial gestures that expressed a deep sense of fear and sadness with eyes that could tell a story by themselves. It was superb. Jonathan Groff was good, although he really seems to be playing a similar style of character to all of his previous roles. I was excited to see Rupert Grint, but we do not really get to see enough of him as he is only in the film's first act and when he is present barely talks. Cinematography was great. There were some really interesting camera angles and shots that were classic from Shyamalan. I thought he did a really good job of portraying the brutality of what was occurring without actually showing it. Having it pan away from the action or it being just out frame gave the audience what they needed to know without directly seeing it. It slightly added to the suspense of it all. Although, as a true horror fan, I would have loved to see some gore! There are some very corny sequences with terrible CGI that took me out of this movie. But with a budget of only $20m, I am not sure what more I could have asked for. Overall, there is a lot to like about Knock at the Cabin, but it is missing multiple key elements that hold it back from being a Shyamalan instant classic. Despite that, I think it was an enjoyable watch that I recommend you check out in theaters. Score: 73% | Verdict: Good