M. Nate Shamalan broke into our lives about half a year ago with "The Sixth Sense" and "Unbreakable" - truly two of the most beautiful and amazing commercial American films of our generation.
Since then, unfortunately, he has had trouble replicating the two-time success, certainly from a commercial point of view.
Last weekend, his new movie, "Knock on the Door", was released here, and it also turned out to be a disappointment.
As the name suggests, the film begins with a knock on the door.
The door belongs to a proud couple, raising an adopted girl together.
The pulses are a random bunch on the faces of four people.
They are hospitable, but carry with them a terrible news: humanity is facing an apocalypse.
The only way to save her is if the family agrees to make a sacrifice.
The catch is twofold: first of all, contrary to the custom in such stories, the family cannot make an external sacrifice.
I mean, she can't slaughter a goat.
The sacrifice has to come from her.
In addition to that, the person who will perform the binding must also be one of them: the four knockers on the door cannot perform the murder or suicide for them.
Why?
That way, this is the story and we are asked to accept it as it is.
To the film's credit, two things can be said: first of all, the performances of the game in it are excellent.
This is mostly said about the wonderful and tireless Dave Battista, who plays the leader of the stiffs at the door.
Usually, these characters embody absolute evil and misanthropy.
Here, his character acts precisely out of a strong desire to save humanity, and the actor does his best to embody this human love through his facial expressions and body language full of compassion and kindness.
Disappointing again.
From "Knock on the Door" (Photo: Tulip Media)
Let's also say that this psychological horror thriller manages to keep viewers in suspense throughout - a little over an hour and a half.
What a shame that, in the end, this experience is not rewarding: Shamalan was once a master of twists, but his last films end with a weak answer, and so it is here.
In fact, "Knock on the Door" struggles to add anything that wasn't already there in its trailer.
It's a clear case of "you've seen the trailer - you've seen the movie".
If you look at the script in retrospect, it is unconvincing, lacks internal logic, unsophisticated and in less beautiful words - completely stupid.
You can even say this: we haven't seen such a stupid movie in a long time.
There was potential here to put the characters and viewers through challenging, in-depth, complex and thought-provoking tests, but instead of opening the door in these directions, "Knock on the Door" goes for a screwed-up solution, and pardon the expression and puns.
We talked about all this in Iris Cole's weekly cinema corner.
Listen to the corner above and remember - the next time the Horsemen of the Apocalypse knock on the door, just say you donated at the office and don't open it!
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From Nate Schmallan
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