Knock at the Cabin Review | BOOK VS MOVIE + ending explained

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Today I’m sharing my review for the new film Knock at the Cabin, directed by M. Night Shyamalan. This movie was adapted from the book The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay, which is one of my favorite horror books of all time.

In this video, I talk about the differences between the book vs movie, I explain the endings of the book and film, and I talk about which version of the story I like best.

#knockatthecabin #bookvsmovie #endingexplained

COMMENT and let me know which you liked best, the book or the movie!

RELATED VIDEOS
M. Night Shyamalan interview:

More book vs movie videos from me:

If you liked this movie, read these books (playlist):

TIME STAMPS
0:00 intro
0:58 The 1st half of the film
5:13 Major difference: ending explained
8:44 Answers vs ambiguity
12:49 Final thoughts


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17 Comments

Avatar of @chadlounder7434
@chadlounder7434
06.02.2025
Late to the party, but a few things in my opinion:A- New Hampshire, not British Columbia (as a native New Hampshirite, I had to say it 😂)B- some interviews seem to suggest the original screenplay had Wen's death and no studio would fund it due to this. My thoughts is the aspect of her being shot to death, in the face, was probably not the thing to have on screen and they had to make a change. I prefer the fact that a decision still had to be made and Wen's future becomes a huge reason for it. C- I wish they had kept it as the book with the attack on Andrew, so it left the unsure nature of Eric's recognition of him being more reasonable. Him being present at the bar would mean he was a witness in the investigation, which means he'd recognize him more. D- I actually don't mind the movie ending because we don't actually KNOW if this was the apocalypse or if it was coincidental. We get that aspect with the timed show for the flu aspect in the movie, as we had in the book. It could very well be that without Eric's death, this could have still ended the same way. It came down to a choice Eric fully believed was needed, and convincing the very opposite minded Andrew to believing it enough to pull the trigger, with Wen's future being a reason. They were left to believe in a decision the same as Leonard and the others were before they came to the cabin. Book grade: A-Movie grade: A-
Avatar of @M.elissa.M
@M.elissa.M
08.01.2025
I prefer ambiguity to being spoon fed the answers. I read the book and gave it 3 stars, I liked it but didn’t love it. I don’t plan on seeing the movie so I appreciate this video!
Avatar of @lorenamunguia-cortez9368
@lorenamunguia-cortez9368
08.01.2025
Perfect timing, I just watched it yesterday!
Avatar of @bethm7362
@bethm7362
31.12.2024
Thank you so much for this video!! I had a feeling the ending would be different in the movie.
Avatar of @kirklynncentore532
@kirklynncentore532
31.12.2024
The book ending was very Interesting.

Knock At The Cabin movie adaptation was very unique, loved the characters that Dave Bautista and Kristen Cui portrayed as Lenoard and Wen.

I was expecting a different ending to the movie as Andrew was sacrificed but Eric ended himself which led to Lenoard and Wen as the only survivors.

As Lenoard offered his hand to the little girl as she accepted and Lenoard lifted her up to his shoulders and reassured and promised Wen that he completed his mission and prevented the apocalypse from happening, as they leave the cabin Lenoard tells Wen they'll be fine as the walk away.
Avatar of @cloudslikethis
@cloudslikethis
31.12.2024
I watched the movie yesterday and hadn’t read the book, and somehow had avoided all booktube spoilers of it! I really enjoyed the movie, I think the more clear-cut route worked for the big screen which doesn’t have as much time to really delve into the more ambiguous moral discussions. Although definitely agree it could’ve been more bold in some points. I watched Infinity Pool right after which was a funny combo as that one is so much more ambiguous.
Avatar of @leslienope
@leslienope
28.12.2024
Ok you said M Night Shyamalan and I was like 'meh' but Bautista?! I'll watch the movie now 😄
Avatar of @davefuentes3542
@davefuentes3542
28.12.2024
I’ve read the book and have seen the film. The movie is decent but I preferred the book’s ambiguous ending and things not being explained to me.
Avatar of @jennalw
@jennalw
28.12.2024
I was hoping for this video! I loved the book and was disappointed by the movie. I was hoping for some huge, mindblowing twist in the movie. It was too clear in the movie that everything was actually happening and it didn’t feel like the stakes and tension were increasing. I wish there was some last-minute twist to introduce more ambiguity, to leave the audience thinking about what was real and what wasn’t. And I agree about wishing we saw the kills! I wanted to be scared but the movie wasn’t scary
Avatar of @jennystout8600
@jennystout8600
20.12.2024
M. Night Shyamalan strikes me as a very sentimental director, especially when it comes to children, so I'm not surprised he went that route with Wen. I will probably see the movie because I like the actors in it, but I don't think it will live up to the book (which I LOVED) for me. But that's ok! Films and books are such different mediums, and I actually prefer it when a director goes in a slightly different direction when adapting a book for the big screen.
Avatar of @crystaldanker8031
@crystaldanker8031
20.12.2024
We saw the movie yesterday- the book is ALWAYS better than the movie😀- my husband and daughter liked it and hadn’t read the book- I told them what was different afterwards and they were shocked about the daughter outcome!
Avatar of @ED-kv1dc
@ED-kv1dc
20.12.2024
I'm not a huge Shyamalan fan and I was expecting to be super critical of the film, but I didn't hate it. By leaving out such a huge plot point with Wen really changed the whole dynamic. It felt like I was reading the book but with an alternate ending and I can appreciate both. I do agree about the violence and how that was shown. I wish it went a little further. I also wish the film would have spent just a little more time with Andrew and Eric developing their characters/relationship.
Avatar of @KatieColson
@KatieColson
11.12.2024
Thank you for making this. I was so curious.
Avatar of @PattyEverAfter
@PattyEverAfter
11.12.2024
This book sounds perfect for M Night, while also sounding like something he shouldn't have touched. He loves ambiguous horror, and I could totally see him picking this book up, loving it, and wanting to make it a movie. However, none of his movies are heavy on the violence, and thus, he would've read those same scenes and seen them as to much. As for the spoon feeding scenes, he's been critiqued by the larger public for making all his horrors ambiguous, when it doesn't need to be so or there just isn't enough clues to the twist. This movie might have been an overcorrection of that critique.
Avatar of @tatim30
@tatim30
11.12.2024
I 100% agree with your review. I was very skeptic when I first saw that Dave Bautista was cast to play Leonard, I really didn't have high hopes since his performance in previous roles has been kinda meh IMO, and oh boy was I wrong!, turns out he was amazing, to me his portrayal of Leonard was one of the highlights of the movie. On a not so positive note, I preferred the ambiguity of the book, and I think Wen's death was an important part of the plot, not only because of the shock value for the readers, but it also marks a point of no return, the worst has happened, and even though this is catastrophic to Andrew and Erick; Leonard says her sacrifice doesn't count because it was an accident, this pushes Andrew to the limit and, as you noted, he does no longer care if the world is ending or not because their world has ended.
Avatar of @chiv7002
@chiv7002
09.12.2024
I thought the book was fast paced. The movie felt quite slow, not very thrilling. I’m on team book with Wen’s death. While I loved her character, her death in the book really got you sucked into the book even more. With the movie, it felt a bit safe.
Avatar of @SorryBookedSolid
@SorryBookedSolid
09.12.2024
I waited to watch this until I saw the movie adaptation, and I finally have! 🎉 I really like your analysis and comparison especially because the details of the book have faded in my memory and it was nice to be reminded of the differences. I personally was in the camp of hating the book and the ambiguity so I was pleasantly surprised by the answers I got in the movie and actually think if I went back to reread the book I’d enjoy it more with the Wen twist just because I’d be able to picture the whole situation better. But I do understand and respect everyone who is disappointed the movie deviated so much!

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