Knock at the Door

With as many films that M. Night Shyamalan has written and directed, he certainly has got to be one of the most original storytellers in Hollywood today. Even though "Knock at the Door" was based on a novel, this filmmaker still had his name all over this one. This was one part fact and two parts bizarre.

While vacationing at a remote cabin, a young girl, Wen (Kristen Cui) and her parents, Eric (Jonathan Groff) an Andrew (Ben Aldridge) are taken hostage by four armed strangers, Leonard (Dave Bautista), Sabrina (Nikki Amuka-Bird), Adriane (Abby Quinn) and Redmond (Rupert Grint), who demand that the family make an unthinkable choice to avert the apocalypse. With limited access to the outside world, the family must decide what they believe before all is lost, because if they don't decide by a certain time, global devastation will start occurring. 

Others to round out the cast are McKenna Kerrigan as Andrew's mother, Ian Merrill Peakes as Andrew's father, Denise Nakano as TV newscaster, Bill Vargus as seismologist and Satomi Hofmann as TV newscaster #2.

This was directed with his usual gripping approach by M. Night Shyamalan ("Praying with Anger" '92, "Wide Awake" '98, "The Sixth Sense" '99, "Unbreakable" 2000, "Signs" '02, "The Village" '04, "Lady in the Water" '06, "The Happening" '08, "The Last Airbender" '10, "After Earth" '13, "The Visit" '15, "Split" '16, "Glass" '19, "Old" '21) plus TV and a music video. Any film that Shyamalan writes and/or directs is certainly original. His approach to his actors seemingly is that he seeks to have them show the intensity which he brings to all his projects, this film being of no exception. He allows and even counts on his actors to exude the raw emotion that he consistently brings to his films, and this film simply put you on the edge of your seat. If you like his brand of filmmaking, his "Labor of Love" is in development. It was creatively written by Shyamalan, Steve Desmond and Michael Sherman, based on the book, "The Cabin at the End of the World" by Paul Tremblay. This is where potential issues crop up. The way the audience will handle this depends on if they want to see it as something factual or pure fiction. It's based on a novel, which is typically fiction. Even though the apocalypse will happen someday--this part being fact--the decision on whether it will happen doesn't fall on a family's choice. But, if a decision wasn't so crucial, there wouldn't really be a premise to this film.The apocalypse will happen regardless who decides what or whatever is said or done. As far as the writing goes, obviously Shyamalan carries the brunt of the experience here, although I'm sure both Desmond and Sherman's input was pivotal. This is certainly a vehicle that has showcased Bautista's acting ability, in that I really didn't realize that he had the acting ability that he presented.

Please, don't get hung up on believing that the premise of this could even happen. Suffice it to say that the apocalypse will happen but is not contingent on the way this story was written. Enjoy it as pure fiction, and I think you'll enjoy it far more. 

Out of 4 Stars: 3                                           Rated: R                                                100mins.