WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for Knock at the Cabin’s ending!M. Night Shyamalan addresses the criticisms surrounding his frequent use of twist endings. One of the thriller genre’s most prominent names, Shyamalan’s 1999 release The Sixth Sense is widely regarded to have one of the most shocking twist endings of all time. Since then, Shyamalan has released a number of other thrillers, including The Village, Signs, and The Happening, as well as The Visit and Old more recently. Each of these feature an ending that entirely subverts everything the audience has been led to believe, an expectation that has since attached itself to Shyamalan’s releases.
While many admire Shyamalan’s masterful storytelling, the director has faced criticism in the past for including a twist ending in most of his movies. In a recent interview with UNILAD, Shyamalan addresses this criticism and discusses his use of twist endings within his filmmaking process. After sharing that he doesn’t pay much mind to the criticism, the director discussed how he finds this format of storytelling “very interesting” and that he tends to be drawn to stories and characters that feel fresh. Check out Shyamalan’s quote below:
I don’t think about it. If I was being critical about criticism, their track record in art has not been the greatest. It’s our jobs as artists to power our new voices into the mix. We’re not asking is there an available seat that fits us. It’s irrelevant. I make mysteries, so ultimately there are answers to those mysteries that kind of naturally come with the type of stories that I tell. My whole job is to make everybody give up on trying to define things and just be like, ‘He’s just making another one. Wow, this one’s different than the one before, it has a different flavour and different things that are good about it.’ I have a tendency to be drawn to something that just feels fresh and that I haven’t felt before. I don’t mind killing off anybody, I don’t mind making bad guys really complicated and sympathetic. I find the format of telling stories very interesting, so thinking about a beautiful story and when does a character come into it. It’s a really cool part of the process, not telling it linearly.
Does Knock At The Cabin Have A Twist Ending?
With Knock at the Cabin serving as Shyamalan’s latest release, many had expected the much-anticipated thriller to feature a signature Shyamalan ending. Knock at the Cabin sees a family’s remote cabin vacation interrupted by four ominous strangers who present the trio with a choice, in which one of them must be killed in order to prevent the impending apocalypse. These four strangers wield make-shift weapons and are terrifying upon first glance. However, it’s quickly revealed that they cannot kill any of the family themselves and that the choice must be made, and the killing committed, by the family.
After Knock at the Cabin presents the audience with the possibility of an apocalypse should the young family refuse to sacrifice one of their own, the film is then sprinkled with various spoken and visual clues, specifically planted to make the audience question whether these strangers’ intentions are genuine, or whether something more sinister is afoot. Ultimately, Knock at the Cabin‘s twist is that there is no twist. The fate of the world truly does rely on the decision made by Andrew, Eric, and Wen, and everything begins to unfold exactly as was told by the four strangers.
While it’s up for debate whether Knock at the Cabin broke or simply continued Shyamalan’s long-running trend of twist endings, it is fair to say that the director appears to have no current plans to stop including shocking reveals within his films. Critics have praised Knock at the Cabin as one of Shyamalan’s stronger releases in recent years, with the film having performed particularly well at the box office so far. With many now already anticipating Shyamalan‘s next project, it remains to be seen what the director has up his sleeve next.
Source: UNILAD