Knock at the Cabin (2023)
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A family vacationing at a remote cabin is confronted by four strangers who demand they perform a desperate act to save the world.
The story
While vacationing at a remote cabin in rural Pennsylvania, a family consisting of parents Eric and Andrew and their daughter Wen are confronted by four strangers. The intruders, led by a man named Leonard, claim they have been guided by visions of an impending apocalypse involving rising oceans and a global pandemic. They demand that the family perform an unimaginable sacrifice to prevent the destruction of the world. The family is held hostage as the tension rises between the desperate intruders and the terrified parents, who must decide whether to trust the strangers' claims or fight to protect their child.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
While vacationing in rural Pennsylvania, a family is held hostage by four strangers who claim they must sacrifice one family member to stop a looming apocalypse. After the intruders' first sacrifice of a companion, named Redmond, the family faces a series of escalating events. As the world begins to show signs of catastrophe—including a deadly flu and plane crashes—the family members are forced into a violent confrontation with the intruders. Following a series of deaths among the intruders, the father, Eric, decides to sacrifice himself to ensure his daughter's future. After the events conclude, Andrew and Wen find evidence supporting the intruders' claims and witness the disasters stop. They eventually find peace in a nearby diner as the world stabilizes.
- First release year
- 2023
- Runtime (minutes)
- 100
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- M. Night Shyamalan
- Writers
- M. Night Shyamalan · screenplay; Steve Desmond · initial draft; Michael Sherman · initial draft
- Cast and characters
- Dave Bautista · Leonard; Jonathan Groff · Eric; Ben Aldridge · Andrew; Nikki Amuka-Bird · Sabrina; Rupert Grint · Redmond; Abby Quinn · Adriane; Kristen Cui · Wen; M. Night Shyamalan · an infomercial host
- Genres
- apocalyptic; psychological horror
- Themes
- sacrifice; apocalypse; faith; family
- Tone and mood
- tense; ominous; suspenseful
- Setting
- A remote cabin in rural Pennsylvania.
- Premise and plot tags
- home invasion; doomsday; moral dilemma
- Source material / true-story basis
- The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul G. Tremblay
- Content notes
- violence; language
- Reception
- The film received generally positive reviews from critics and was described as a thought-provoking chiller.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 67% · scale: percentage · review count: 344; CinemaScore · score: C · scale: A+ to F; PostTrak · score: 56% · scale: percentage
- Awards and nominations
- Best Horror · Hollywood Critics Association Midseason Film Awards · 6th · nominated
- Production trivia
- M. Night Shyamalan used lenses from the 1990s to achieve an 'old-school thriller' look.; The film's release date was moved forward by two weeks to avoid competition with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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