“Knock At The Cabin”: Here’s how the horror thriller’s ending differs from the novel – and here’s what the author thinks

It’s finished! Already, “Knock At The Cabin” is a special movie because director M. Night Shyamalan’s mystery thriller (“The Sixth Sense”) had the honor of dethroning “Avatar 2” after seven weeks of box office dominance. But even beyond this message, the home invasion shocker is currently attracting a lot of attention and dividing the public. One of the biggest points of contention is the movie’s ending, which differs greatly from the original novel. Now also has Paul Tremblaythe author of the novel, responded on Twitter…

But before we get into what the author thinks about these changes, here’s a little summary of the plot of Knock At The Cabin: Eric (Ben Aldridge) and Andrew (Jonathan Groff) want to be together with their daughter Wen (Kristen Cui). Take a trip to a remote cabin in the woods. But instead of a relaxing family vacation, the weekend trip quickly turns into a nightmare, as four strangers (Dave Bautista, Rupert Grint, Nikki Amuka-Bird, and Abby Quinn) suddenly appear at their doorstep and force their way into the cabin. The group, led by the charismatic Leonard, captures the family and tells them that the apocalypse is imminent and that it can only be averted if one of them voluntarily sacrifices himself…

Spoiler! These are the differences between the movie and the book

Below we briefly discuss the differences between the ending in the film and in the book, since that is of course not possible without spoilers, here comes a big SPOILER ALERT!

Probably the biggest difference from Paul Tremblay’s novel is that Wen dies there in a scuffle over a gun. However, she was not chosen as a victim by the group and so her death – at least according to Leonard – cannot stop the end of the world either. Another victim must be determined. In the end, neither Eric nor Andrew sacrifice themselves, leaving the author in the middle of whether the end of the world is really imminent.

The order in which the heralds of the impending end of the world kill each other – in the book, by the way, to stop the impending apocalypse, while in the movie, their deaths set off the catastrophe in the first place – differs from the novel. While in Shyamalan’s adaptation it is the peaceful yet imposing Leonard who speaks without a doubt about the end of the world to the end, in the book it is Sabrina who survives to the end and even questions her own methods. She eventually leads Eric and Andrew to their car, leaving them free to make their own choices.

The author doesn’t seem entirely happy

While Tremblay has spoken positively of the finished product, he doesn’t seem entirely happy with the film and the changes made. While he did not actively oppose the film, he was surprisingly quiet about the film and largely ignored the marketing campaign in particular.

The author has now been asked on Twitter about the radical changes between the finished film and the book template. And here Paul Tremblay has made it absolutely clear that there is only one ending he prefers to this story: the one he came up with.

With such drastic changes, it’s not surprising that the author doesn’t seem entirely happy with the film adaptation. However, these changes do not detract from the success “Knock At The Cabin” is already the fourth Shyamalan film in a row to climb to the pole position of the US cinema charts.

By the way, if you want to see the differences between the movie and the book broken down in detail, it’s best to watch our video editor Sebastian’s contribution: