Film Buffa: Is M. Night Shyamalan's latest any good?

"Knock at the Cabin" is something else. But is it worth seeing in theaters?

I’ll give M. Night Shyamalan credit for this until the end: He takes big swings.

The longtime writer/director who pops up in his own movies has never taken a half-measure with filmgoers’ dollar bills or time. He has swung and missed on multiple occasions; little happened in “The Happening,” and “The Last Airbender” is better left forgotten; but the man doesn’t resist the urge to go for it.

His themes and morals often toe the line between humanity’s cruel and unusual power; that is when he’s not simply putting a certain group of people in a bad situation. That’s the setup of his latest, “Knock at The Cabin.”

Andrew (Jonathan Groff) and Eric (Ben Aldridge) are enjoying a nice weekend at a cabin with their daughter, Wen (Kristen Cui), when trouble finds them. That trouble first arrives in the form of Leonard (a LARGER than life Dave Bautista). He walks up on a bug-catching Wen outside the cabin, and they are soon joined by three others. (“Harry Potter” star Rupert Grint among them.) A struggle ensues and hand-to-hand combat results in the couple being tied to chairs, with a proposal from the invaders.

***SLIGHT SPOILER TERRITORY***

What Leonard and his “co-workers” propose is anything but uncomplicated: The apocalypse is coming, and their family must make a sacrifice. That particular “ask” isn’t a mere item or sum of cash; it’s choosing a life to end. Yes, Andrew and Eric have to choose which one of them are going to raise young Wen.

How Leonard, Sabrina (Nikki Amuka-Bird), Adriane (Abby Quinn), and Redmond (Grint) make their demands and visions come to life with their own brand of sacrifice is what will give you the chills--along with a big handful of tension.

That’s what Shyamalan has always done best: construct and maintain tension on film. Whether it was “The Sixth Sense” or “Split,” he takes the sounds of the Earth and all of our vulnerabilities, cranking the dial to 12. It’s the screenplay-co-written by Shyamalan and two others, and based on a book-that will divide audiences.

Steven Desmond and Michael Sherman take the current temperature of the world, an empathetically flawed think-tank of a generation, and place it inside a glass jar with some classy LGBQT spice thrown in for good measure. Andrew and Eric’s marriage and romance does carve its way into the central dilemma of the brutal form of choice, but never in a preachy or overreaching way.

Here, Shyamalan and friends play it as a normalcy, thankfully. The polarizing factor could be the change that the writers made to the book’s ending, and also just the unwavering climax and resolution. You may think the end is something already made up in your head, but you are mostly likely wrong.

“Knock at the Cabin” hits hardest when pressing into humanity’s main weakness: acting like they care so much about the world and its future, only to easily choose the life of their own family of 3 or less over the rest of the population. Instead of just building another house of a plot to be blown up by a big twist or present a creepy scare, Shyamalan attempts to combine real horror and cinematic horror.

I liked the results for the most part, due to a dynamite cast. Bautista has never been given this kind of a role, one that doesn’t require him to always be punching or delivering a comedic quip. He’s most excellent at both of those abilities, but here he is given a big-time juicy dramatic role. Leonard is a gentle soul being asked to perform a physically-draining task.

The “Army of the Dead” and “Guardians of the Galaxy” star doesn’t waste the opportunity, pouring his heart into a beastly looking man who is slowly dying inside due to the images stuck inside his head.

Groff was impressive in David Fincher’s “Mindhunters,” but Andrew is a different shade than that serial killer-chasing badge. He’s the seemingly passive (and concussed) soul in this puzzle, trying real hard to see the positive in this deadly group’s plan. Aldridge provides the fire with the cynical yet smart Eric. He only sees bullshit and fake outrage in Leonard and his fellow premonition warriors.

It’s almost surreal to see Grint get this deprived, but his dug-in reach here is a success. Amuka-Bird and Quinn will both break your heart, especially the latter in a late scene. Cui is a real delight, and not for being a cute face in a dark scenario. She more than holds her own with Bautista in a handful of great one-on-one sequences.

The audience sits in Andrew and Eric’s seats for most of the picture, but you’ll also understand that every character here is a full-bodied and developed individual. I’ll let you take the journey to get the full dose of M. Night’s latest joint. It’s something else, a movie that I can still easily recall and start dissecting in my head.

My main takeaway is Bautista proving he is much more than an action (and/or comedy) star, and Shyamalan still knowing how to twist our gears and yank at our heartstrings.

The only shortcoming of “Knock on the Cabin” is that a few parts felt very overwrought and the screenplay stretched its wings to contrived temps at times.

Verdict: A solid time at the movies and well worth seeing in a theater.