Movie Review: Knock at the Cabin (2023)

Knock at the Cabin (2023) co-written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan

In this twist on a home-invasion thriller, the group of home invaders, led by Leonard (Dave Bautista), do want something horrible to happen to the family staying at a remote cabin. They come with strange, hand-crafted weapons and a very strange story about visions that they have had. The family's horrible choice will avert the end of the world, the invaders insist. The family naturally thinks this group is crazy and resist (especially as the two adult are a gay couple and first think they are being targeted for that), though as in other Shyamalan movies, there's a lot more going on.

Also like other Shyamalan movies, the less you know about the plot and mechanics going in, the more enjoyable the experience is. The tension is good as the viewers struggle along with the family to understand what is going on. How much of the strangers' story is contrivance or error and how much is real? This movie, like other recent Shyamalan flicks, is less optimistic than his early works, which left me a little unsatisfied. The cast does a good job, especially Rupert Grint (Ron from Harry Potter films) as one of the invaders. Kristen Cui plays Wen, the adopted daughter, is also very good. 

Mildly recommended, Shyamalan fans will get their fix.

Movie Review: Old (2021)

Old (2021) written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan

Several small families visit a tropical island resort where the staff cater to their every need. Select visitors are invited to a secluded beach on "the other side of the nature preserve" where they can spend a magical day of surf, sun, and happy memories that will last their lifetime. A bickering couple on the verge of separation takes their son and daughter. Another couple brings his mom and their daughter. The third couple don't have children, probably because the wife has seizures. They all look forward to a relaxing day at the resort's exclusive little treasure.

A fourth couple had an early ride to the beach and the guy has been sitting in the shade, waiting for his woman to come back from a swim out into the ocean. Her body drifts back to an inlet where the kids are playing. The kids freak out and the adults have a hard time dealing with the dead body. The beach has no cell coverage and anyone who walks back to the road through the slot canyon path quickly blacks out and is back on the beach. There seems to be no escape. And the three kids are rapidly growing older. One of the kids sees some lights on a faraway ridge but they can't tell if the flashes are just reflections or people watching them. Things get tough from there.

The movie does a good job establishing the characters as people with real-world problem. They've come to the resort to get a break but the stress of the beach forces several of them to the breaking point. They have to deal with the mystery of what's going on as well as their own insecurities and conflicts. Viewers have a hard time figuring out what's going on until the end. The explanation of what is happening and why is less satisfying in this film than in other Shyamalan movies. The purpose is morally dubious (which the film acknowledges) and not entirely credible. Even so, I found the movie diverting. I've watched it once, enjoyed it, and probably won't watch it again.

Mildly recommended.

Movie Review: Glass (2019)

Glass (2019) written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan

David Dunn (Bruce Willis), hero of Unbreakable, is living life nineteen years later. He runs a home security store. The store is a front for the lair downstairs where he and his son work on hero opportunities that use David's superpowers to help people. Their latest project is hunting down The Horde (James McAvoy, portraying a man with twenty-four different personalities) who has kidnapped some cheerleaders, much like he did in Split. David and his son manage to find the Horde's lair and David frees the cheerleaders. The cops show up and turn over David and the Horde to a psychologist (Sarah Paulson). She is an expert on people who think they are superheroes like in the comic books. They are taken to the same institution where Elijah (Samuel L. Jackson), the brilliant Mr. Glass from Unbreakable, has been kept for the past nineteen years. They go through a pysch ward drama that questions whether they have super powers or not.

The psych ward drama is less convincing but helps to underscore the main theme, which is how comic books can be a compelling narrative which is, according to Elijah, a true narrative of how people are. The story is slower and more intense at the mental hospital, making it more vague about where the story is going. Action sequences take a backseat to the exploration of comic book tropes and how they might manifest in real life. I found the theme really interesting, if a bit overdeveloped by the end.

The movie is an interesting sequel to both Unbreakable and Split, uniting the two stories seamlessly and playing on the strengths of each. The movie's main challenge is trying to combine comic book ideas in real life situations, which works more or less smoothly depending on the trope. Some of the tropes feel forced and make for a less satisfying twist at the end. I did enjoy the film but it is not as great as Unbreakable.

Recommended.

Movie Review: Unbreakable (2000)

Unbreakable (2000) written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan

The life of David Dunn (Bruce Willis) is falling apart. He's estranged from his wife (Robin Wright Penn) but still living together because of their young son Joseph. David is on the verge of leaving them when something unbelievable happens. On a train ride from New York, David's train wrecks and everyone on board dies except for David. David has no injuries whatsoever. He tries to go back to his life but he receives a strange note from Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson). Elijah is a comic-book expert who thinks David is an exceptional person, someone meant to be a hero. Elijah has lived his life with a debilitating condition where his bones are extremely fragile. He's so weak, shouldn't there be someone else, a polar opposite, who is unnaturally strong? And doesn't the world need people greater than normal, people who are heroes?

The story is told in a very quiet but direct way. When David is leaving the hospital after the crash, Joseph puts his parents' hands together. As soon as Joseph turns away, they let go, showing that they are not really together except for their son. Shyamalan tells a lot of the story in a similar fashion, showing an artist's touch. Big, over the top moments don't happen on screen except once or twice, and then to great effect. The actors all deliver great performances. The story is finely crafted and visually rich.

Even better is the thematic elements. David is a lost soul, without a real purpose or direction to his life. And he knows it but he doesn't know what to do about it. Elijah thinks David is meant to be a hero; his son wants him to be a hero. Accepting that vocation is a long and hard road for David and a fascinating journey for the viewers. The ending is a classic Shyamalan twist and his most powerful.

Highly recommended.

Movie Review: Split (2017)

Split (2017) written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan

Three young women are abducted by a guy (James McAvoy) who has twenty-three different personalities vying for control. The girls meet three or four of those personalities in the opening twenty minutes of the film. Some of those personalities clearly want to do harm; others are friendly and would be helpful except they are aware of the other personalities and nervous about what could happen. The problem is interesting and creates unexpected challenges for the three girls, who are way out of their field of expertise.

Oddly enough, the guy is seeing a counselor, Dr. Fletcher, who is trying to help suppress the less desirable personalities and encourage the more benevolent ones. She has her own interest in the guy since he's a goldmine for research and discussion with others in her field. Even though he's giving warning signs to Dr. Fletcher, she does not immediately catch on. She is a handy character since she also provides technical exposition on the guy's abilities, some of which are more convincing than others. The science is a bit wobbly but can be forgiven thanks to the strength of the performances and writing.

McAvoy does a great job performing a variety of characters, occasionally changing between them in the same scene in convincing and unnerving ways. The ultimate plan of the bad personalities, to unleash a twenty-forth personality, is one of the less convincing bits which is unfortunate since that is the dramatic focal point of the last half of the film. The overall tone of the film is a bit more pessimistic than I'm used to in Shyamalan's films. The surprise twist (the usual way he ends a film) I found unexpected and intriguing and left me wanting more, in a good way.

Recommended.

Movie Review: The Visit (2015)

The Visit (2015) written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan

Teenage siblings Becca and Tyler go to visit their estranged grandparents in rural Pennsylvania. Their mom ran out on the grandparents when she was 19. She fell in love with an older man, the father of Becca and Tyler. He has since left for California with another woman. She'd like to go on vacation with her new boyfriend, so to give her a break, the kids agree to the visit. Becca is also an aspiring film maker. She brings her camera and plans to document their week getting to know their grandparents and hopefully find a way to reconcile them to her mom. It's a sweet idea. Unfortunately, the grandparents' behavior becomes more and more unsettling, leaving the children to doubt their safety in the middle of nowhere.

I was interested to see this since it was touted as Shyamalan's comeback movie. I did find parts of it tense and exciting but the "found footage documentary" style has been done quite a bit and I didn't see anything particularly new here, especially no solution to the "why are they still carrying cameras around?" problem towards the end. The unknown actors are all good in their parts and give their characters humanity. Shyamalan is good at writing smart kids and getting child actors to deliver good performances. I did care about the siblings but the situation is a little too familiar for really big scares or surprises.

Recommended for Shyamalan fans or if you haven't seen a bunch of "found footage" films like The Blair Witch Project or Paranormal Activity.

Movie Review: Signs (2002)

Signs (2002) written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan

Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) is a former preacher living with his two children and his brother (Joaquin Phoenix) on the family farm some 45 miles from Philadelphia. His loss of faith is relatively recent--his wife died in a horrible car accident six months ago and Graham's trust in God completely vanished. Crop circles appear in the corn fields overnight. He thinks it's the work of vandals but very soon the television is reporting crop circles all over the globe, as well as other evidence of alien activity. Are they about to be invaded? Is this the end of the world?

The movie is a combination of an alien invasion thriller and an existential crisis for Graham. The alien invasion is exciting and tense, even though the story is told mostly through news coverage on television. Some aliens do show up in their area. The home siege at the end is particularly well executed, going for the "less is more" style famously used by The X-Files. The film also follows in the footsteps of The Twilight Zone, adding a more substantive story underneath the sci-fi trappings. Graham's loss of faith is just that--he doesn't believe God is the good and providential Person everyone assumes He is, otherwise why would He let a senseless accident rob him of his wife? Graham has taken the cross off his wall and won't waste another minute on prayer. He explains to his brother that there are two kinds of people in the world, those who take luck as a sign of someone higher up watching out for them and those who think luck is only circumstantial. The first people have a reason for hope when an alien invasion is looming. The second people have much more reason to fear. Graham puts himself in the second camp but clearly struggles with where he really stands and where his family and friends need him to be. That answer is what the movie is ultimately about.

Shyamalan is famous for his twist endings. The twist in the invasion story is a bit unbelievable though it is crafted in support of the twist in existential crisis story. I found the ending moving if not great and do heartily recommend the movie. It's not Shyamalan's best work but it is very good, like the best of The X-Files and The Twilight Zone.

I was inspired to rewatch this because Julie and Scott discussed the film on A Good Story is Hard to Find. They give the usual excellent commentary and insights.