M. Night Shyamalan says KNOCK AT THE CABIN is more like SIGNS than his previous work if(typeof ez_ad_units != ‘undefined’){ez_ad_units.push([[728,90],’geektyrant_com-box-3′,’ezslot_18′,112,’0′,’0′])};__ez_fad_position(‘div-gpt-ad-geektyrant_com-box-3-0’);

Director M. Night Shyamalan is a master of suspense, having given us movies like The sixth sense, Signs, The village, VisitAnd Dividedso it’s fun to see him bring us a mind-blowing new thriller with a great cast and a twisty story.

In this month’s Total Film, Shyamalan sat down to talk about his new film, Knock on the booth, and was asked which of his past thrillers this new one is most similar to. He replied:

“Which of my other movies is Knock At The Cabin in the ballpark of? The closest, I think, is Signs, because both movies are confined, to some extent, and both are populated by such lovely families in the center of apocalyptic I think you fall in love with both families, you laugh with them, you fear for them, you feel connected.

He went on to talk about the story, which was adapted from the book The hut at the end of the world:

“You know, the author of the book, Paul Tremblay, wrote it right around the time Trump was elected. He was feeling certain things about the world. It’s really interesting that maybe he wrote it then, and I’m doing a different version of the story here. It’s a wonderful discussion we’ll all have when you watch the movie. Is humanity worth saving? Are we any good? The human experiment: is it working? The story is about a girl [Kristen Cui] and his parents [Jonathan Groff, Ben Aldridge]. They are on vacation and answer the door to four strangers [Dave Bautista, Rupert Grint, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Abby Quinn] which gives them a terrible choice to make. I think about the things that I’m drawn to when I think about my ideas, or, in this case, an adaptation, is taking genres and then bending them in new ways, or changing genres from what you thought you were looking at. This is the entertainment of the public, for me. They come in thinking they are looking at something, and it changes and moves.

I think this is the best part of the films Shyamalan makes and the stories he tells. There is always something held back, always a twist that finally brings the story together perfectly. He went on to talk about marketing a film based on his deceptive storytelling style:

“How much do we give away? That’s always the conversation when I’m doing something, and then when I talk to Universal, because they’ve released a lot of my movies recently, the last four or five. The conversation is, ‘Hey, these are the things which are for audiences when they go to the movies, and those are the things you can sell the film on.”

“There are high concepts of ‘cards up’ and high concepts of ‘cards down’ that are in the film. High concepts of ‘cards down’ are for the cinematic experience. So we have those discussions clear, and even if the marketers say, “Wow, if we take that thing down and put it up…” I’m like, “No, no, no. That’s not how we do it. You guys are part of the narrative.'”

Knock on the booth stars Dave Bautista (Dune, Guardians of the Galaxy franchise), Jonathan Groff (Hamilton, Mindhunter), Ben Aldridge (Pennyworth, Lots of fleas), Nikki Amuka-Bird (Persuasion, Old), Kristen Cui, Abby Quinn (Little Women, Fixed network) And Rupert Grint (Servant, Harry Potter franchise).

Here is the synopsis:

“While vacationing in a remote cabin, a girl and her parents are taken hostage by four armed strangers who demand the family make an unthinkable choice to avoid the apocalypse. With limited access to the outside world, the family must decide what to believe before all is lost.”

Universal will release Knock on the booth in theaters February 3, 2023.