A family has to sacrifice one of their own to save the world.
Can they do it?
Here's what happens after three people hear a Knock at the Cabin.
Knock at the Cabin centers around a choice that's posed to couple Andrew and Eric, and
their young daughter Wen.
Four strangers arrive at the cabin where Andrew, Eric, and Wen are staying and take control
of the house.
They tie up Andrew and Eric and tell them that the four of them have been united by
a shared vision of an apocalyptic event that will end humanity if a choice isn't made.
Andrew, Eric, and Wen are tasked with picking which one of them will be sacrificed to stop
the world from ending.
Every time the family says no to the sacrifice, one of the four strangers dies, and a deadly
plague gets unleashed on the world.
If it gets to the point where all four of the strangers die, then Andrew, Eric, and
Wen will live only long enough to watch the rest of the world burn around them.
It's a dilemma that at one point is described as an impossible choice, and it leads to bloodshed
as Andrew and Eric each wrestle with believing the strangers and finding a way out.
The central choice in Knock at the Cabin is an example of a common ethics thought experiment
called "the trolley problem."
This scenario imagines someone being told that a trolley's brakes have failed and it
is barreling towards a group of people tied to the tracks.
This bystander has the chance to intervene and flip a switch that would send the trolley
on an adjacent track, where it would kill just one person.
In Knock at the Cabin, Andrew, Eric, and Wen deal with this dilemma.
It's fitting that Leonard, the leader of the four strangers, defines this as an "impossible choice."
After all, it's not just about numbers.
These three characters are forced to measure the weight of their own lives against the
lives of anonymous strangers.
Knock at the Cabin elevates the trolley problem to a grander and more emotional scale, which
is partly why the film is so engaging and relatable.
As Eric and Andrew refuse to make the choice and the strangers' deaths unleash horrifying
plagues on humanity, viewers get to see Andrew and Eric's life together before this encounter.
A series of flashbacks shows Eric and Andrew going to adopt Wen, Andrew being attacked
at a bar by a homophobic patron, and the three of them arriving at the cabin.
So, what's the importance of these flashbacks?
Ultimately, they embody the reason that Eric and Andrew simply can't sacrifice one of their own.
From dealing with disapproval from their parents and the outside world to becoming parents
themselves, these two have been through a lot together.
There's a deep love between Andrew and Eric that's hard to break, which Leonard even acknowledges.
"I believe you were chosen because your family's love for each other is so pure."
These flashbacks play a pivotal role in helping viewers understand Eric and Andrew's inability
to make this choice, even as they are told the consequences.
Throughout Knock at the Cabin, Andrew is the voice of reason.
He refuses to believe what the strangers are saying, and his strong-willed logic leaves
viewers unsure of what's real.
For example, Andrew points out that the news broadcasts the strangers show them, which
depict apocalyptic events, could have simply been carefully timed.
Perhaps these news stories were already in the works, and this could just be a matter
of the strangers knowing what was going to happen beforehand and using that information
to scare the family.
More significantly, Andrew believes that they have been targeted because he and Eric are gay.
He thinks that Redmond might be the man who attacked him at the bar.
His conviction is so strong that he gets Sabrina and Adriane to doubt their own beliefs.
However, as it becomes clearer that there might be more at play than Eric and Andrew
initially thought, Andrew's logical thinking reveals itself to be a cover for the fear
he's feeling about the inevitable.
Andrew is arguably the most complex and compelling character due to the way he makes viewers
question their own beliefs.
"It doesn't matter.
None of us believe you."
During the first ritual sequence where the strangers kill Redmond in order to release
a plague, Eric notices something in the light shining through the window.
In a quick flash, the light-filled visage of a figure can be seen.
Throughout the film, Eric questions what he saw and if it was real or just a byproduct
of his concussion.
As the truth is unveiled, it becomes clear that this figure in the light wasn't just
a figment of Eric's imagination.
It's never explicitly said who or what Eric saw, but based on the themes of the film,
we can consider different interpretations of it.
Knock at the Cabin centers around the question of belief and what happens when our beliefs
of the world and its rules get challenged.
Andrew's worldview holds no room for even the possibility that what the strangers are
saying is true.
Eric is less sure of himself, so perhaps this figure of light is a mystical being, or even
God coming down to Earth to try to convince him that there's something more happening.
Now, for the million-dollar question: Will the world really end if Eric and Andrew refuse
to sacrifice one of their own?
The answer, shockingly, is yes.
While it initially seems like maybe Andrew was right and that the strangers' visions
were just delusions, it becomes clear that they weren't lying once Leonard is the only
one left.
When Leonard is the last stranger left, he shows Eric and Andrew a newscast of hundreds
of planes crashing out of the sky.
At this point, both the characters and viewers realize that it's a bit too far-fetched to
believe that the strangers coordinated something on that scale.
It's enough to make anyone believe that this isn't a hoax, after all.
Eric and Andrew are stunned by this revelation and are left with one more choice to try and
stop the world from ending.
Dave Bautista's incredible performance as Leonard sells this shocking twist perfectly.
In this moment, the weight of every disaster that's happened throughout the film crashes
down on you.
M. Night Shyamalan doesn't follow this up with some other twist that disproves this
sudden realization, so it's really true: The things the strangers said would happen are
happening, and because Eric and Andrew struggled to believe them, the world is now on the verge
of ending.
"Will you make a choice?"
When Leonard finds himself as the only stranger remaining, he decides to have one last exchange
with Eric and Andrew outside the cabin.
He further divulges his motivations for coming to them and what he saw in the visions.
Leonard describes the visions of the apocalypse as nightmarish and says he felt completely
helpless seeing the world burn.
That sense of dread and the heart-wrenching idea that the ones that Leonard loves would
perish in a fiery apocalypse drove him to lead this small group of seers.
Now, it's all he thinks about, since the world is on the brink of destruction.
After spilling his guts this last time to Eric and Andrew, he asks them if they'll make
the choice.
Although the audience isn't shown their response, Leonard's actions say it all: Leonard draws
a knife and says that humanity has been judged before taking his own life.
It's a subtle but powerful shift as up until now, Leonard and the other strangers have
talked about the world facing judgment, which could go either way.
Here, Leonard, as the last stranger standing, makes a definitive statement that seems to
seal humanity's fate.
With his death, Eric and Andrew have mere minutes to make a choice to try to stop the end.
At first glance, the four strangers that arrive at the cabin seem like four ordinary people.
When they first introduce themselves to Eric, Andrew, and Wen, they talk about their lives.
So, it's tough not to wonder why they were chosen and if they serve a greater purpose.
Shortly after Leonard dies and Eric gains immense clarity, he comes to the conclusion
that they do.
Eric believes that based on everything that's happened and the distinct qualities that each
of the strangers has, these four people embody the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
In the Book of Revelations, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are seen as the harbingers
of the end of time, and each symbolizes a different end of humanity: conquest, war,
famine, and death.
Here though, Eric interprets each stranger as a positive quality of humanity, rather
than as a means to its end.
For instance, Leonard personifies guidance, as seen in the way he leads the group and
"It doesn't have to be like this."
But now that the four of them have been snuffed out, humanity's best qualities are gone with
them, leaving the world open to destruction.
It's a crushing realization overall that not only gives deeper meaning to the four strangers,
but also makes Eric realize that a choice needs to be made.
With only minutes left until the world's fate is sealed, Eric offers himself up to be sacrificed.
Over the course of the film, Eric has become the most connected with the strangers and
has been less resistant to their mission than Andrew.
That — plus his experience of seeing the figure in the light — has opened him up
to the truth of what's happening, even if he wishes it weren't so.
He comes to see that the only way for Wen to live a full life is for him to make the choice.
"There was something in the light."
Eric is in a clearer state of mind than Andrew and has found a euphoric peace in thinking
about Andrew and Wen and their future together.
Eric delivers a monologue that pairs with a flash forward, which shows viewers exactly
what he hopes for: Andrew and Wen, both older, laughing together.
It's the last memory he wants to think about before his death.
Eric is ready to make the sacrifice that will give the ones he loves a chance at a real
future in an imperfect world.
Although Andrew struggles at first, he eventually finds the strength to shoot Eric in the chest.
Thus, with Eric's sacrifice, the choice is made.
So, with Andrew and Eric making their choice and Eric dying to save his family, the only
question that remains is: Was it in time?
At first, it doesn't seem like it since the skies are still dark and stormy.
Lightning strikes all around Andrew as he climbs into the treehouse to see Wen.
It feels like the world is collapsing around them and the two of them weep over the loss
of Eric.
The two of them head to a local diner, where they discover that Eric's sacrifice came just
in time to save the world.
At the diner, Andrew and Wen see news reports about the disasters stopping: The water from
the tsunamis starts to recede, those affected by viral outbreak begin to recover, and planes
stop falling from the skies.
Even the rain that now falls around them is putting out fires from the plane crashes.
The world starts to feel hopeful again.
After such an intense turn of events in the film, this reveal gives viewers a meaningful
moment of tranquility and shows that Eric's sacrifice had real meaning.