Parents' Guide to Knock at the Cabin

M. Night Shyamalan's horror-thriller makes terrific use of its intimate scale and level-headed approach, generating suspense through suggestion and surprising empathy for the characters. Shyamalan doesn't usually do adaptations, but here he lets Paul Tremblay's novel The Cabin at the End of the World do all the heavy lifting. As a result, Knock at the Cabin showcases the director's singular, spatial visual style without crumbling under the lackluster writing that sometimes sabotages his work. That said, the movie does lose some of its suspense as it ramps up and reveals more information in the final act. But Knock at the Cabin starts economically and emotionally and rarely falters. Bautista sets the tone with his Leonard character, countering stereotypes often associated with large, muscular people by turning out to be gentle, thoughtful, and compassionate (he seems genuinely hurt at the suggestion that he might be lying about this apocalyptic scenario). For all of the threat and death on the line, the characters' tense, back-and-forth conversations are mainly about love and hope. And the fight between the worst of humanity and the best of humanity keeps viewers constantly guessing.