Following the release of Old in July 2021, M. Night Shyamalan didn’t waste any time getting to work on his next thriller. Before the end of the year, it was revealed that the writer/director was already developing a secret new project titled Knock At The Cabin, and he had already found his star. Just a few months later, in April 2022, production on the mysterious movie started up, and now it’s just a few months away from arriving in theaters.
In the wake of the release of Knock At The Cabin’s first trailer, you may be wondering about the actors who populate the ensemble cast, and on that front we have you covered. The new M. Night Shyamalan film has seven principal stars, and in this feature we’ve highlighted their past credits and previewed their roles in the new movie.
Dave Bautista
Since his breakout role as Drax The Destroyer in James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Dave Bautista has made clear efforts to try and work with some of the best and most interesting filmmakers working today – be it Sam Mendes (Spectre), Denis Villeneuve (Blade Runner 2049, Dune), Zack Snyder (Army Of The Dead), or Rian Johnson (Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery). With Knock At The Cabin, the wrestler-cum-actor has now added M. Night Shyamalan to that growing list, and it looks like he is set up with an intense role playing the leader of the home invaders in the thriller.
Jonathan Groff
Between Hamilton, Frozen, and The Matrix Resurrections, Jonathan Groff has been a part of some massive productions in the last decade, but Knock At The Cabin marks his entrance into the intimate thriller genre, and he’s in solid hands with M. Night Shyamalan at the helm. In the film he is playing Andrew, one half of a gay couple who decide to take a vacation with their daughter and go to a peaceful cabin in the woods. Unfortunately, the peace doesn’t last long thanks to the arrival of Dave Bautista’s Leonard and his cohorts.
Ben Aldridge
Ben Aldridge will be playing Jonathan Groff’s husband in Knock At The Cabin – the film being his feature follow up to Michael Showalter’s 2022 biographical drama Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies. Aldridge is best known for his work on the small screen, his credits including recurring roles on shows such as Our Girl, Reign, and Fleabag. Most recently he has been playing Thomas Wayne on the series Pennyworth and is the lead on the British crime series The Long Call.
Rupert Grint
It’s likely that Rupert Grint will forever be remembered for his portrayal of Ron Weasley in the beloved series of Harry Potter movies, but M. Night Shyamalan has been a key collaborator with the actor since his time in the Wizarding World. Since 2019, he has been playing one of the principal roles on the Apple TV+ original series Servant, which credits Shyamalan as an executive producer and a director. The show’s third season aired earlier this year, and it has been renewed for a fourth and final season. In Knock At The Cabin, he will be playing one of Leonard’s cohorts along with…
Nikki Amuka-Bird
Nikki Amuka-Bird is playing Adriane in Knock At The Cabin, who is another member of Leonard’s crew of home invaders. This will mark the second time that she has worked with M. Night Shyamalan, as she previously starred in 2021’s Old, but she is no stranger to working with talented filmmakers, having also worked with Steven Soderbergh, Armando Iannucci, and The Wachowskis. She has done a lot of television, including eight episodes of the Idris Elba series Luther, and she is part of the main cast of the HBO sci-fi comedy series Avenue 5.
Abby Quinn
Rounding out the group of antagonists in Knock At The Cabin is Abby Quinn as Sabrina. Younger than most of her costars, she doesn’t have as extensive a resume yet, but she has already been a part of some excellent movies and television shows. She has Greta Gerwig’s Little Women and Charlie Kaufman’s I’m Thinking Of Ending Things among her credited feature roles, and has been featured in episodes of Black Mirror and Better Call Saul. In 2019 she was a part of the Mad About You revival season playing the daughter of Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt’s characters.
Kristen Cui
Finally we have the youngest member of the Knock At The Cabin ensemble, and the film is actually her professional acting debut. In the thriller she will be playing Wen, who is the daughter of Ben Aldridge’s Eric and Jonathan Groff’s Andrew. We don’t really know much about her role in the story beyond that, but our instincts tell us that she will be a part of the mysterious choice at the center of the plot that Leonard & Co. force the family to make.
There is still a great deal about M. Night Shyamalan’s Knock At The Cabin that we don’t know, and that seems very intentional… which in turn makes us all the more excited to see the film and discover its secrets. Produced by Universal Pictures, the movie is set to come out in the early weeks of 2023 – specifically on February 3, 2023.
For more about the lineup of films that are set to be released next year, check out our 2023 Movie Release Calendar, and our Upcoming Horror Movies guide will keep you apprised of all spooky and scary features that are on the way in the coming months.
