You know you’re in for something special when M. Night Shyamalan is at the helm of a horror movie.
The director’s latest project is the psychological horror Knock at the Cabin, based on the 2018 novel The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul G. Tremblay. It stars Jonathan Groff, Ben Aldridge, Kristen Cui, Dave Bautista, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Abby Quinn, and Rupert Grint.
The film sees a family held captive by four individuals in a cabin in the middle of the woods. At first, the two dads, Andrew (Aldridge) and Eric (Groff) think they might have been targeted as a gay couple, but the individuals soon explain that they were brought together after seeing visions of the end of the world. They then reveal that Eric, Andrew, and their young daughter Wen (Cui) need to make a decision. One member of the family must die, and the other two must kill them.
Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Knock at the Cabin.
Knock at the Cabin is a horror movie, so you might be wondering if there are any teases during or after the credits. Let’s take a look at the end of Knock at the Cabin and let you know if it’s worth waiting around to the very end.
Is there a post-credits scene in Knock at the Cabin?
You might be surprised to find out that there are plenty of small things to look out for during the Knock at the Cabin credits, with a short stinger capping whole film off. There is no actual post-credits scene, however, with the film instead relying on a stylized credits sequence that mirrors the events of the film. Part of the movie was that if a member of the family did not die when they asked them to make the decision, the intruders would kill one of their own instead, and one of four worldwide plagues would begin.
The first plague was earthquakes, which led to massive tsunamis that enveloped the cities they impacted, killing everything in their paths. The second plague was a flu, like the COVID-19 pandemic but much worse, filling hospitals and infecting children quicker than everyone else. The third seemed to be technological, with planes diving out of the sky and crashing into Earth, killing all on board. The fourth and final plague consisted of a very bad storm, one that darkened the skies, and set the ground on fire.
All of these plagues are represented in the credits of the film. First, there are wings that fall next to the names going down the screen. These wings might be representative of the bugs that Wen is seen collecting at the start of the film. The next animation to sweep through the credits is a color change from yellow to blue and back again, which is symbolic of the waves from the first plague.
The third animation sees flu particles bumping around the screen, similar to those you would see in a science textbook or a news report. This is obviously representing the second plague, the flu. The fourth animation is the most obvious, as it represents the third plague via planes crashing through the credits, and the final animation represents the fire started by lightning strikes in the fourth plague. That’s not all, either. As the last name rolls by, the screen goes to black and audiences once again hear Dave Bautista’s knock from earlier in the film, as an obvious nod to the film’s title, Knock at the Cabin.
These credits are an interesting choice. It is not as if the film needed a post-credits scene to reveal something hidden or to set up a sequel as Knock at the Cabin is a self-contained story. It does not need a sequel or a post-credits scene. That being said, including an interesting credits sequence with a fun stinger at the end is a good way to entertain your audience and make sure they stay in their seats for the entirety of the credits.
Plus, then audiences can see the names of the many talented people who worked on Knock at the Cabin, and consider their thoughts on the movie.
You can catch Knock at the Cabin at the theaters starting from Feb. 3, 2023.