Nope and Knock at the Cabin

Film(s) to be reviewed:  Nope and Knock at the Cabin

Purpose for watching the film(s):  

I was intrigued by the premise laid out in the trailer for each of these films, and considering past performance from each director, I was optimistic that the full-length movies would deliver on the promised thrills and surprises. 

My reaction to the film(s)

Jordan Peeles Nope is an audacious enterprise, a film that builds tension in the tradition of Hitchcock and M. Night Shyamalan; it gives us characters to care about, and puts them in a very unsettling situation.  It seems like The Twilight Zone, and The X-Files might also be an inspiration for this film, since Peele focuses heavily on the set-up, but also delivers a crazy pay-off that answers some questions, but by no means are they all answered.  Delving deeper into my X-Files comparison, Nope feels like it could be a one-off episode; we are introduced to a family of cowboys who have been witnessing some inexplicable phenomena.  The cowboys are interesting, the phenomena is interesting, the explanation is somewhat trippy, and the conclusion seems fitting and well earned.  I wouldn't rank this film, in quite the same category of Hitchcock's best, and it's not as good as Shyamalan (when he's on his game), but it was quite entertaining, and really, what more can you ask for?

In typical Shyamalan fashion, Knock at the Cabin has a simple premise, which could be explained in one sentence:  Four mysterious strangers are sent to deliver the message from Sofie's Choice to a gay couple and their adopted daughter.  Each of Shyamalan's previous films, including his best, The Village, could be condensed to a similarly simple synopsys. What makes many of Shyamalan's earlier films great, is where he took those ideas. The Village wasn't about its twist, it was about self-sacrificing love. The Sixth Sense was about facing one's fears by helping others…  I started a list of what each of Shyamalan's best films were really about, but we can discuss those later.  Unfortunately, Knock at the Cabin feels like a retread of Shyamalan's earlier, better works. Sure, there's a message here, but it's the one that you can guess easily from my description of the plot.  I realize that Shyamalan must feel significant pressure to always be out-Shyamalaning himself, and perhaps the best thing to do is just make a movie that doesn't have any surprises, and doesn't aspire to do anything remotely interesting.  Alright, now that he's got that out of his system, here's to hoping that his next film will return to what he does well.

Closing thoughts about the film(s):

So here’s the problem, M. Night Shyamalan established a benchmark with The Sixth Sense, and he was able to make a series of films that improved on that pattern.  Now we measure not only Shyamalan against that standard, but anyone who tries to enter the genre.   In today's face-off, Jordan Peele's Nope out-Shyamalans Shyamalan's Knock at the Cabin.