Knock At The Cabin's Ben Aldridge Is Grateful For The Key Changes To The Source Material

Master of suspense M. Night Shyamalan gripped audiences with his 2023 white-knuckle thriller "Knock at the Cabin." The film was released on the heels of the filmmaker's big cinematic comeback that began with "The Visit" and gave fright-fans examples of his return to form in "Split," "Glass," and "Old." Adapted from the Paul G. Tremblay novel "Cabin at the End of the World," the film is about a family who is visited by four strangers who claim the world is ending, but the apocalypse can be prevented if one of the family members kills another. So, not only does the family have to figure out if the end times are really coming or not, but they also have to figure out who will be sacrificed if the doomsayers are right.

Jonathan Groff and Ben Aldridge play married couple Eric and Andrew who, along with their daughter Wen (Kristen Cui), must navigate the terrifying scenario. Dave Bautista leads the doomsday prophets, turning in a star-making, dig-under-your-skin performance. M. Night Shyamalan, known for the twists at the end of his films, presented a different kind of twist with "Knock." The movie follows along with the novel very faithfully, until it begins to deviate as the end draws near. The twist here is that the film's ending is completely different from the book's, and Aldridge thought that was a very good choice from the filmmaker.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Ben Aldridge, who played one of the fathers in M. Night Shyamalan's "Knock at the Cabin," discussed how changes Shyamalan made that deviated from the book worked in the film's favor. Going into moderate spoiler territory, the book's ending is bleaker and somewhat open-ended while the film presents a definitive outcome that's still bleak, but not "The Mist" type of bleak like the novel is.

"I was shocked by the end of the book, and I was shocked again by Night's change," Aldridge said. "I think it would've been unwatchable, and I'm so glad it was changed because I would've hated to have acted that. I could have, of course, but I like the choice Night made." Shyamalan, in an interview with Variety, said that the cast inspired him and had a great influence on the film. That perhaps could have played into his decision to change the ending.

Shyamalan deviating from the ending of the book shouldn't make fans of the book stray from seeing the movie, as Aldridge explained that the ending of the movie is more cinematic, while he said of the novel's ending, "Works amazingly on the page, but as an audience member, there needs to be more satisfaction than that. So I respect Night's flip on that as well." 

Audiences can decide for themselves if the ending presents some closure as the film is in theaters now.