Knock at the Cabin: M. Night Shyamalan Recalls Being Shaken up While Filming

M. Night Shyamalan movies are known to make audiences shiver, but the filmmaker himself recently confirmed that the performances he witnessed while shooting his latest film, Knock at the Cabin, were so intense they even left him a bit unsettled. Details about the film’s plot have been kept under wraps, but given Shyamalan’s previous cinematic efforts, even having hints of the storyline likely wouldn’t be the complete picture, with audiences currently being left in the dark about even an official premise for the upcoming film. Knock at the Cabin is currently slated to land in theaters on February 3, 2023.

“One week finished on [Knock at the Cabin] such intricate performances this week. Very dark, emotional film. One take shook me up so much I had to walk away to collect myself. Hopefully you’ll feel it as well when you guys see it,” Shyamalan shared on Instagram.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by M. Night Shyamalan (@mnight)

The film’s previously announced cast includes Dave Bautista, Rupert Grint, Jonathan Groff, Ben Aldridge, and Nikki Amuka-Bird.

Following the success Shyamalan earned earlier in his career, the scope of his projects began to expand more and more with each effort, though this upcoming film is seemingly taking a more intimate approach to an unsettling story.

“I will tell you this: strangely, it was the fastest script I’ve ever written. Signs would have had that title prior to Knock at the Cabin,” Shyamalan shared with ComicBook.com while promoting his TV series Servant. “I probably think, in terms of both of them, that they have this movement, this event, that causes me to write it really fast. Hopefully, audiences will feel that when they come to see it. It is definitely in the wheelhouse of the things you’re seeing from me now, especially with Servant, this contained and gigantic event that’s occurring.”

While star Bautista has delivered audiences compelling comedic and action-oriented performances, this new project might show off another side of the performer, based on Shyamalan’s comments about what motivated the casting.

“I was really taken by what [director] Denis [Villeneuve] and Dave did in that scene in Blade Runner,” Shyamalan explained to The Hollywood Reporter. “He was still in a way that was powerful. There’s a type of stillness where you’re not doing nothing; you’re doing everything and you’re still. Your essence of what you’re thinking is coming off your body. I always tell actors that I can definitely shoot the back of you. If you watch the back of Heath Ledger at the beginning of The Dark Knight, the second I saw his back, I thought, ‘I’m seeing one of the greatest performances ever.’ I could see it just from the way he was standing.” 

The director continued, “Every cell in your body will do what it’s supposed to do if you’re thinking something correctly. So don’t just be blank. You have to think it. So don’t show me anything because your body is going to show me. And Dave was embodying all of this philosophy in that scene, and I thought he was a really unusual person because he is who he is and he’s that big. I didn’t know who he was at that time, and he stuck in my head. So when this script came, I was like, ‘There seems to be one guy who can play this giant human being and do the stillness.’ So I asked Dave.”

Knock at the Cabin is currently slated to land in theaters on February 3, 2023.

Are you looking forward to the new movie? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!