M. Night Shyamalan's new movie examines the unthinkable choice of a family called to make a great sacrifice for the purpose of appeasing an impending apocalypse. Four characters, Leonard, Sabrina, Adriane, and Redmond, a representation of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, are tasked with guiding the protagonists in making the gesture. As an incipit, it could have been the basis of an appealing film, as to a discussion of complex concepts such as religion, faith, and man's right to receive the grace of existence. Unfortunately, the execution makes the result underwhelming and disappointing.
The pivotal problem lies in the handling of the script and dialogue, which appear superficial, dated, and far from triggering even the slightest reflection. The characters, as much as their interactions, are sloppily and roughly, rendering all the actors on screen stereotypes of human types rather than real people. As much as possible all the actors did a good job, especially Dave Bautista and Kristen Cui.
The second problem is the extreme predictability of the story, the entirety of which can be guessed from the first few minutes. A problem that, had the film been made with at least greater depth, would have been felt less, but which becomes preponderant accompanied by the low quality of the script. Atmosphere and tone, are as drab as the attempt to enliven the story with poor thriller parts.
The last major flaw, is the clumsiness in dealing with the underlying concepts, primarily religion, whose representation borders on stereotyping, examples being the depiction of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse mainly according to the colors of their shirts and their antecedent professions, or the "divine vision" of the protagonist Eric. The other theme, homosexuality, is not treated with less trivial clichés.
It comes naturally to make a concluding comparison with Yorgos Lanthimos' picture 'The Killing of a Sacred Deer', with which it shares some similarities, and which is an example of absolutely better handling of all the aspects that this film instead lacks, and, of how, with some shrewdness, 'Knock at the Cabin' could have encompassed to be infinitely more effective.
The pivotal problem lies in the handling of the script and dialogue, which appear superficial, dated, and far from triggering even the slightest reflection. The characters, as much as their interactions, are sloppily and roughly, rendering all the actors on screen stereotypes of human types rather than real people. As much as possible all the actors did a good job, especially Dave Bautista and Kristen Cui.
The second problem is the extreme predictability of the story, the entirety of which can be guessed from the first few minutes. A problem that, had the film been made with at least greater depth, would have been felt less, but which becomes preponderant accompanied by the low quality of the script. Atmosphere and tone, are as drab as the attempt to enliven the story with poor thriller parts.
The last major flaw, is the clumsiness in dealing with the underlying concepts, primarily religion, whose representation borders on stereotyping, examples being the depiction of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse mainly according to the colors of their shirts and their antecedent professions, or the "divine vision" of the protagonist Eric. The other theme, homosexuality, is not treated with less trivial clichés.
It comes naturally to make a concluding comparison with Yorgos Lanthimos' picture 'The Killing of a Sacred Deer', with which it shares some similarities, and which is an example of absolutely better handling of all the aspects that this film instead lacks, and, of how, with some shrewdness, 'Knock at the Cabin' could have encompassed to be infinitely more effective.