REVIEW: KNOCK AT THE CABIN

4/5

The Cabin In The Woods. 

100 Mins. Starring: Dave Bautista, Jonathan Groff, Ben Aldridge, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Kristen Cui, Abby Quinn & Rupert Grint. Director: M. Night Shyamalan. 

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK. Signs of the apocalypse are happening right now. All around the world. A planetary pandemic. War and the crippling cost of air travel keeping us further from each other than the arm's length of social distance. Not to forget just what mother nature could do to us at any given moment if we don't love and nurture her like we would our own. M Night Shyamalan taps into those fears like 'The Sixth Sense' and 'Unbreakable' 'Split' and 'Glass' trilogy great director of horror did with the truly triggering and terrifying (to our age) 'Old' ('The Happening' director's last picture). There are Easter Egg 'Signs' of a collection of this creepy curator's classics that are now becoming hallowed and heralded like the volumes of the master of the chill (sounds like a great rapper name), Stephen King (that too). But there's nothing that will really wake you up out of your reverie with a start like the 'Knock At The Cabin'. 

Pounding on the door of an idyllic cabin in the woods with ham fists. A young family is in for a rude awakening when four figures ride in warning them of the impending apocalypse. What's it got to do with them, you ask? Well, nothing about their sexuality and ethnicity, as this film makes some pronged points (like those weapon of choice, terrifying tools) about this box-ticking world of saying you love things for likes, when really most would reverse the trend the moment the tide turned on them. Instead, caught like grasshoppers in a mason jar, or other subtle metaphors, this family is given the chance to save all of humanity. All they have to do is sacrifice one of their own. Yeah, right! "All." Calling back to the cruellest of catch 22's that Barry Keoghan gave to fellow 'The Banshees Of Inisherin' co-star Colin Farrell (both robbed at The Academy, Oscar) in Yorgos Lanthimos landmark, but overlooked 'The Killing Of A Sacred Deer'. This is something of brutal, biblical proportions, and perhaps one of M Night's best days at the movies yet. Not to mention his most classic hallmark cameos on this network. 

Straight scary in its decision-making process without its usual twist, this 'Cabin' doesn't go bump in the night, but that's no knock. Behind the curtain, even if it does see the light of day, it just might be the last. How can you comprehend the reality of this happening, even when it's all playing out on a screen tuned in, right in front of you? Especially when one of the lawyers in charge of his own has a disbelief beyond a reasonable doubt. This is what makes this film so urgent. Especially with how it applies to the world we live in right now with the mask coming off. One that injects vaccine debates into our daily conversation, playing a game of whose opinion comes out on top when we should really be playing it as safe as when we stayed in our houses (although we don't need to lockdown now) to keep each other in the best health we can, all whilst getting on with our lives (but let's just at least keep our hands clean). Our reason to disbelieve everything mapped out in front of us scientifically because it gets in the way of our own paths to what we promised ourselves, or our righteousness, coupled with the quagmire of a decision no one could make in their right minds hits you like a lightning bolt you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy and scene after scene you won't see coming, let alone the end. In a world of movies as pretty predictable as a trademark twist. The twist itself becoming part and parcel of that predictability. 

The family in question are played perfectly by two men and a little lady. The scene stealing, star of the future Kristen Cui with the best taste in Studio Ghibli movies, who from opening to closing feels like she's been here for years. That's how good this child-actor's presence is. Yet her parents help raise that idea to the top of the treehouse. Thomas Wayne in 'Pennyworth' Ben Aldridge is more than the lovable 'Arsehole Guy' in 'Fleabag' which really opened things up for the best thing on television. Aggravated after an assault, what's simmering below the rage he uses against those with a machine like assembly against his family is pure and profound. But seeing the light through the concussion, it's 'Hamilton' Tony Award winner Jonathan Groff that really takes to this wooden stage tied to a chair. The man that made you get over the fact that he replaced Hugo Weaving in the new 'Matrix' resurrection is a revolution. 

As your wheels refuse to turn on a question that can only be answered with a "f### you"! Our unwelcome visitors continue to drive the screws in...as politely as they can with the doomsday clock ticking away like sand in an hour glass. Save the rage of Rupert Grint (so good in 'Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet Of Curiosities' last fall), who seems like a man possessed with more than perplexing pain. There's a glint in Grint's eye that shows this Weasley is king, graduating from Hogwarts and all. Not to mention the fact that his facial expressions were easily the best thing about the magic 'Harry Potter' franchise. In this unimaginable psychological horror based on Paul G. Tremblay's 2018 novel 'The Cabin At The End Of The World', the only thing that isn't unquestionable here is the talent showcased in one setting that could be for a stage play from 'The Father' to 'The Whale'. 'Persuasion' actress Nikki Amuka-Bird is powerful in her nursing of a clinically conflicted person. Trying to nurture her own humanity and the conflicting conviction of a question she can't bare to ask, let alone answer. Whilst 'Little Women' and 'I'm Thinking Of Ending Things' actress Abby Quinn finally gets the break she deserves after appearing in many movies and being stung by a 'Bumblebee' deleted scenes. But will her front of house staff character pick up the same tab? Here's a tip, you shouldn't ruin a second of this movie, even in theory.

Keep your lips sealed with a finger to your mouth. Because what will really get hold of you is wrestler turned actual actor Dave Bautista. The Marvel star and classic Bond henchman who recently starred in the 'Knives Out' mystery of 'Glass Onion' is showing us layers of acting that even the great Rock couldn't cook up. Crying like someone's cutting up hamburger vegetables. He's always great when bespectacled (see the 'Dune' star in Denis Villeneuve's 'Blade Runner 2049') and here in a preacher white, short-sleeved shirt, even though he looks like he could break you in his Destroyer hands, he seems genuinely kind. It's a genius move casting the simple but straight Drax as a man hiding either hatred behind that gentle giant tenderness, or simply the truth. Subtle, but far from the invisible man, he's the perfect looming figure to take you through this movie and whether you choose to believe him, or not. Let alone if he has the right, or if you think he is in moral obligation or human justification. Shyamalan's seriously scary and time sensitive tale will this time twist YOU in knots and rap at your door long after the visit comes to a close. Knock on the wood of this cabin. TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Further Filming: 'Unbreakable', 'Sings', 'The Killing Of A Sacred Deer'.