M. Night Shyamalan’s Knock at the Cabin has finally arrived in theaters, serving as the filmmaker’s next nail-biting step in a filmography that’s famously been of two extremes. There’s one occupied by the likes of The Sixth Sense and Signs, the other inhabited by Old and a Last Airbender film that makes us ashamed that movies even exist.
We’ll play coy on where we think Knock at the Cabin as a whole falls for now, but rest assured that Shyamalan is working with some top-notch talent here; a slew of energized performances, including a fascinating, haunting turn from one Dave Bautista is certainly a shiny high point for Shyamalan’s latest.
Bautista’s case is an especially interesting one; his character of Leonard, one of the four intruders to break into the cabin and apparent leader of the group, quickly shows himself to be a gentle giant, despite his intentions being regretfully morbid, making for an infinitely empathetic menace that would be a tough act for anyone to put on.
Luckily, in attempting to break free of the boneheaded combatant-adjacent roles that he often finds himself in, Bautista dove headfirst into Leonard, revealing to ComicBook that while it was certainly a challenging character, the combined persistence of himself and Shyamalan ensured that he’d stick the landing.
“It’s always a different experience but with Night, with this role, because it was a difficult role and Night is… very specific about what he wants. So I was constantly trying to, you know, have the conversation with him and relying on him. There was very much an inner struggle with the performance of Leonard because he was so multi-layered and I just wanted to make sure this was right. And we also had the pressure of being on one camera, on film, so in all this dialogue and it was just really tough.”
What a landing he ended up sticking, too. Bautista stole just about every scene that was handed to him, demanding a watchful eye as the leader of such a suspicious, friendly, yet ghoulish group of characters. It’s up to the individual to decide if Knock at the Cabin is a step in the right direction for Shyamalan, but it’s safe to say that the film is a huge step forward for Dave Bautista.
Knock at the Cabin is now playing in theaters.
