M Night Shyamalan’s new film is the rare studio genre movie to centre queer characters – but its politics are murky
) has still, predictably, come with caveats and limitations. Within genre fare, queer characters have slowly started to appear on the sidelines in films like Truth or Dare, Freaky or 2022’s Scream but the closer they edge toward the spotlight, the more likely they are to be ushered away to a streamer, as shown with the Fear Street trilogy, Hulu’s Midnight Kiss or last year’s They/Them. Box office concerns, fear of alienating the straights, trump all.
There’s something quietly monumental then about Shyamalan, a proud commercialist, turning his eye toward Paul Tremblay’s 2018 novel The Cabin at the End of the World, an uneven yet eerie little nightmare that centres a gay couple and their adopted daughter. In the story, four strangers interrupt their remote vacation with a collection of gnarly weapons, claiming that the world will come to an end unless they decide to kill one of their own.
Regardless of intention – and I genuinely don’t believe that the film is coming from a place of bigotry – there’s something almost comical about the first ever glossy, wide-releasing studio thriller to centre gay characters hinged on the idea that if they don’t rip apart their family, God will punish us all.
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Knock at the Cabin review – the holiday from hell courtesy of M Night ShyamalanHome invaders order a family to sacrifice one of their own to save humanity in the director’s effectively bleak thriller
Read more »
Mermaid Beach knock-down lures buyers in $2.7m saleIn a part of Gold Coast that preserves a suburban feel, cash-flush buyers are flocking to the housing market’s ‘sweet spot’.
Read more »
Benjamin Packer Barham splurges on record-breaking $8.4 million Bondi penthouse - realestate.com.auKerry Packer’s grandson Benjamin Packer Barham is the happy new owner of a stunning $8.4m Bondi penthouse boasting incredible beach and harbour views.
Read more »
Italy v France: Six Nations 2023 – liveWill last season’s grand slam winners France open their campaign with victory in Rome, or could Italy produce a shock? Join Lee Calvert
Read more »
An 'explosive kind of love': Why Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee's love story had to endActor Pamela Anderson releases a new book and a Netflix documentary, saying she's never loved anyone like the musician father of her children, who she divorced after he was violent.
Read more »