[Editor's note: The following story contains spoilers for "Knock at the Cabin."]
The latest twist from M. Night Shyamalan is designed for readers of the film "The Cabin at the End of the World."
'Knock at the Cabin,' a film about a queer couple, which has received widespread praise for its adaptation of Paul Tremblay's novel, "The Cabin at the End of the World," was based on an interview with Shymalan. They are told by intruders, led by Leonard (Dave Bautista), that they must kill one of their relatives to survive the apocalypse.
Andrew decides to murder his husband Eric, with Eric's consent, and the apocalypse is ended, with Andrew and Wen surviving. However, Wen's death does not count as a sacrifice since it is unresolved. However, Eric and Andrew decide not to die and face whatever comes together, and the world presumably isn't spared of the apocalypse.
Tremblay reacted to the major shift in the book's conclusion, calling the twist "eight shades darker" than his original plot.
“I think the film's ending is much darker than my book. I do not mean to mislead you, but on a character level, the idea of, ‘What are Andrew and Wen going to do now,' Tremblay told the Los Angeles Times. “Not only did they just kill Eric — how will they continue to live after that knowledge?”
'I know some people don't think my ending is particularly hopeful, but I find it surprisingly hopeful now that the years have passed.' That's because the story to me became, 'What were Eric and Andrew going to choose?'
"What has happened in the cabin and what they're presented with is wrong; it's immoral, and they refuse," he said. "And I find that hopeful, especially in the context of when I wrote the book."
"Now that we've passed the Trump presidency — hopefully — and everything that's happened in 2020 and since, I believe if I read the book now, I don't believe there's apocalypse happening," he said.
The novel adaptation, which was initially offered, lacked funding, according to Tremblay, "Financier after financier rejected it because no one wanted to see Wen die onscreen."
Tremblay noted that Shyamalan's first screenplay adaptation of the novel was "quite different," and that the filmmaker eventually "put a lot more of the book back in, especially in the early part of the film, which was cool," following Tremblay's taking "a lot of notes."
“There were times when I was tearing up at random things just because, wow, this was right out of the book,” he said, and other times, I felt like I wanted to leave the theater. However, I do like the film, as I have mentioned previously. I prefer my ending, and I hope so!
Eric Kohn and Kate Erbland of IndieWire discussed the twists and turns of M. Night Shyamalan's film earlier this week here.