Knock at the Cabin ★★½ 

AFTER a promising first half, M. Night Shyamalan’s latest film Knock at the Cabin falls on the wrong side of the ledger for this eclectic writer/director.

The man who made his name with plot twists hasn’t landed a good ending since 2016’s Split.

It’s not that he’s running out of ideas – Knock at the Cabin – is based on a 2018 novel; it’s more that his idea of a great story isn’t shared by the audience.

For example, author Paul G. Tremblay’s ending of The Cabin at the End of the World is note perfect for both the tone and theme of the story.

But Shyamalan seems to have ditched it because he wanted to put his own stamp on the material or the studio insisted. Either way, the muddled continuity of events in the final act also doesn’t help.

The story basically asks the question ‘would you kill a member of your own family to stop the end of the world’ but wraps this in a series of implausible plot mechanisms that need careful attention to their presentation if they are going to be accepted by the audience.

All the cast, including Dave Bautista, Jonathan Groff, Ben Aldridge and child newcomer Nikki Amuka-Bird, try hard to make the roles and script believable but there are just too many manufactured elements to this one.

While Shyamalan’s visuals and directorial technique can rarely be faulted, this is still one of his weaker efforts in terms of story.

Watched at the cinema