by Gill Pringle
Knock at the Cabin will undoubtedly subvert your expectations. Typical of M. Night Shyamalan’s brand, not only is his latest a genre-bending combination of horror, mystery, thriller and even New Testament prophecy, but perhaps most surprisingly, he also becomes a champion of the LGBTQ+ community, with a married same sex couple at the centre of this big studio mainstream release.
“If people see a single sex parent family in a way they never have before and they believe in the love of that family, I would love to think it maybe changes minds and illuminates something for some people,” says British actor Ben Aldridge, who stars opposite Jonathan Groff as two husbands with an adopted daughter.
“It excites me. I think only in the last three years have I really been playing queer characters and that’s been a new layer to my work,” says the actor who played ‘Arsehole Guy’ in Fleabag, going on to star in Spoiler Alert with another openly gay actor, Jim Parsons.
“It feels like I’m exposing more of myself in a very emotionally authentic way,” continues Aldridge. “I think what this film does is… it could be any loving family of three. It just happens to be two gay dads, a single sex parent family and their adopted daughter. Its universal appeal is that it’s about love and a loving family in this situation. However, it doesn’t erase that queer narrative. I think it honours the queer experience with a deftness and a lightness of touch. It’s very progressive in that way.
“If a byproduct of this film is that it changed what people thought, that would be incredible. And also, just for the community itself, there is something very strengthening and emboldening in having queer characters placed at the centre of a mainstream studio backed film, and I think everyone in the LGBTQ+ community can take heart; it feels like we’re moving forward and that’s a really good thing,” he adds.
The vision of loving domesticity is abruptly shattered when the family is taken hostage by four armed strangers (Dave Bautista, Nikki Asuka-Bird, Abby Quinn and Rupert Grint as a version of the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse) who demand that they make an unthinkable choice. With limited access to the outside world, the family must decide what they believe before all is lost.
Although the initial screenplay followed the plot of Tremblay’s bestselling book, Shyamalan’s revision takes the story in bold and unpredictable directions. “We adapted a book to make this movie, but essentially went in an entirely different direction around the midway point of the story,” says the director responsible for Sixth Sense and Signs.
“That weighed on me a little bit but, in my mind, the story needed and wanted to go this way very strongly. And in fact, that was the exciting part of the challenge: can I make a movie about a very horrific ‘Sophie’s Choice’, and can I get the audience there?” he asks.
Dave Bautista plays Leonard, the leader of this group of four mysterious strangers who show up at a remote cabin, demanding that the family make an unthinkable choice. The wrestler turned actor was immediately excited by the story. “My initial thought was, ‘Man, this is really dark,’” he recalls.
“And then, I was like, ‘This is an opportunity of a lifetime. This is what I’ve been waiting for because roles like this don’t get offered to me.’ Typically, everybody wants me for action stuff, and I understand why they want to put me in that box. But I’ve been fighting to get out of that box. I want deeper roles because I want to prove myself as an actor.”
Shyamalan was eager to portray Bautista in a way that he’s rarely seen, playing a heartbroken schoolteacher, tortured by the idea that he must force this family to make an impossible choice. “Leonard is like a giant, who’s physically intimidating and has to do these horrific things, but is actually incredibly gentle, like a teacher,” says the director.
“And Dave is this character. He is this childlike giant. He’s very smart and is incredibly analytical about human nature – almost like a child. He can panic in a way, like a child, in the most beautiful way. I wanted all of that on screen… Exactly where Dave is in his life with his craft and his very unique combination of experiences that he’s had and his vulnerability. Dave came to me and basically convinced me that he would do anything for me. And he did.”
Knock at the Cabin centres on sacrifice, asking audiences not to put a definition on what love looks like. “Love takes all kinds of shapes and forms and comes from places you wouldn’t expect. I hate to be cliché, but it can save the world,” says Bautista.
“It’s something that I feel really proud about because I didn’t think about it,” adds Shyamalan. “This is just the family and this is just the love story, and I relate to it very deeply as a love story. In fact, it may be the love story that I relate to the most of all the stories of love that I’ve told. I mean, what their genders are was really irrelevant to what this conversation is about.
“This family and their love is very relatable on every level. So, in that way, it’s beautiful because it just wasn’t foremost on my mind. It was just these two individuals in love with each other and the love of their child. I’m very excited. Some of the early audiences have had a similar reaction to seeing themselves in the family, and so how beautiful is that? It’s awesome.”
Knock at the Cabin is in cinemas February 2, 2023
