DVD REVIEW: ‘Knock at the Cabin’ holds up upon second viewing

“Knock at the Cabin,” however, holds up. A second – or even third – time could reveal nuances in the characters’ relationships and what they could – or should – have done.

In the new thriller, four strangers have news for a couple and their daughter and it’s not good. They insist someone must be sacrificed so the world can be saved.

Are these members of a death cult? Visitors from another world? Truth tellers? Shyamalan doesn’t let on but he does plant many seeds of doubt.

When the cabin dwellers (played by Jonathan Groff, Ben Aldridge and Kristen Cui) think they’re lying, the four turn on broadcasts that indicate all sorts of woes are befalling the earth – tsunamis, viruses, plane crashes, fires.

When the family can’t choose, one of the visitors is sacrified…and so it goes.

Shyamalan certainly keeps the suspense at a high pitch but this isn’t “Sixth Sense” with a trick ending. There’s something to the prophecy and the way the family processes it. Eric (Groff) is the most spiritual of the three, suggesting one of the four was someone he knew earlier and could be a clue to this bizarre invasion. Andrew (Aldridge), meanwhile, is convinced the four (led by a hulking but kind Dave Bautista) are just the people you don’t want stopping by when you don’t have cellphone service, emergency personnel or the strength to run.

When Eric suffers a concussion, one of the four tends to his medical needs. She doesn’t want to hurt him; she just wants him, his husband and his daughter to decide who must die.

Cui – as daughter Wen – is a heartbreaking partner in the game of understanding. She does what her dads tell her and, likely, could outsmart the visitors.

Shyamalan makes sure the cabin has glass doors and windows that just happen to be open. He arms the four with all sorts of tools and references the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse enough to make you wonder if, indeed, this could be true.

Aldridge and Groff are ideal as the couple. They express the kind of fear and vulnerability that suggests they could be targeted. Bautista is good too, even though he looks like someone you never want to meet. He bonds with Wen, never raises his voice and presents his case logically.

Still, this is one of those situations that could have been fueled in an online chat room.

Shyamalan doesn’t reveal his hand until the very end. And then the discussion begins. Like so many of his films, “Knock at the Cabin” prompts many more questions than it answers.

Refill the popcorn and be ready to debate what it all means.