Permanently and cosmically... alone.

Knock at the Cabin – 2.5/5

I like the idea behind this a lot! However, may I present to you: the delivery. It's based on a book but feels more like it's based on a short story. It's not that it has no weight, it's more that it doesn't know how to carry that weight. The spiritually-tinged horror—the cosmic horror—that it hints are wonderful, and frightening, and it both plays that hand too softly and not hard enough. The entire world relies on your decision? Great. I love it. Make me feel it. But it doesn't, so it relies on the fairly bland couple at the center to sell it—but not enough is done to sell them to us. One is angry. The other is nice. The thin characterizations cannot carry the weight. Why not explore The Nice One's spiritual background more? It needs to be explored. It's almost as if the movie is afraid of being a religious movie. It had a chance to get across the Fear of God, but it shies away. The thing that ends up standing out here, the person who can carry the weight, is Dave Bautista. He's actually a great match for M. Night's at-times stilted dialogue. That isn't meant to be insulting! His bulk hides a childlike naivete; a hopefulness amidst the Terrible Thing He Is Asking. He's a Believer. I wish the movie could have made me a believer as well.