Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan. The name of the American director of Indian origin at the helm of this thriller may not ring a bell, but you certainly know some of his films, including the cult The Sixth Sensebut also Unbreakable Or signs.
Considered in the early 2000s as one of the masters of thriller and final twistM. Night Shyamalan had a dip in the years that followed and his star eventually faded, his films coming to a standstill… He came back strong in 2017 with Splitand also distinguished himself with the series Servant.
His adaptation of the novel The Cabin at the End of the Worldby American Paul Tremblay (despite its most Saguenay name), is a step backwards.
Despite the anxiety-inducing atmosphere that he manages to create in this camera that is played out in an isolated chalet, the linear scenario remains quite predictable. From the first minutes, we know exactly where it leads us. And we go there until the end, after many convolutions. There are no surprises or twists. Still disappointing for a thriller…
The story therefore features a couple, made up of Eric and Andrew (very good Jonathan Groff and Ben Aldridge), on vacation, peacefully, in a cabin in the forest, with their granddaughter Wen (Kristen Cui), when four armed strangers , led by a certain Leonard (Dave Bautista), knock on the door.
In fact, these characters embody the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. They all had visions of the end of the world and were “guided” to this chalet. Only this atypical little family can put an end to the cataclysms, epidemics, crashes and other catastrophes that shake the world.
How ? By sacrificing one of the family members. How can these four messengers of God prove that all of this is true? What will Eric and Andrew do? And how will this unexpected (or scheduled in advance) meeting end? All the softness of Shyamalan’s script is there.
Only here, the director leaves little room for the imagination here in the unfolding of this apocalyptic scenario and probably plants too many clues, which lead us to the unequivocal conclusion of this thriller which leaves us without chills.
Indoors
Thriller
Knock at the Cabin (V.F.: The lonely cabin)
M.Night Shyamalan
With Dave Bautista, Jonathan Groff, Ben Aldridge, Kristen Cui
1 h 40