Psychological suspense and no horror, “The Isolated Hut” is the adaptation of the novel “The Hut at the End of the World” by the American Paul Tremblay.
Shot in claustrophobic close-ups by an in-form M. Night Shyamalan, the feature opens with a scene where little Wen (Kristen Cui) is on vacation with her two fathers, Eric (Jonathan Groff) and Andrew (Ben Aldridge). spends vacation in the famous secluded cottage of the title. She catches locusts to study.
Then Leonard (Dave Bautista, absolutely perfect) arrives. The man, a muscular and intimidating giant, still managed to speak to Wen. But three other strangers (Nikki Amuka-Bird, Abby Quinn, and Rupert Grint) arrive, armed. Their medieval weapons and menacing looks fail to calm the family as they break into the house and tie up the fathers.
But there. It’s the end of the world, they claim, and it’s up to Eric, Andrew, and Wen to decide which one of them should die to save humanity. The market is so big – despite disastrous images showing all the news channels – that the couple doesn’t believe it. Then a kind of particularly intense psychological duel begins between Leonard, Eric and Andrew.
Since 1999 and his first film, The Sixth Sense, every new M. Night Shyamalan feature film has been measured against this bar. Is The Secluded Shack as good as The Sixth Sense? No. What “signs”? No. What “The Incredible” then? Not always. And “glass”? “The Insulated Cabin” is better. Happily.
The screenwriter’s decision to change the ending of the novel obliges him to justify his choice. And to go into a little detail on the very Judeo-Christian decision making process of the two men. We would have wished for better or at least more original.