Horror film Knock at the Cabin will feature a gay family in peril
Universal Pictures has released the first trailer to the upcoming film Knock at the Cabin from master of the macabre, M. Night Shyamalan.
As part of what seems to be a growing wave of queer horror representation in Hollywood, this film will center around a gay family unit. The premise of the movie is equally simple as it is terrifying: while vacationing at a remote cabin, a young girl and her two dads are taken hostage by four armed strangers who demand that the family make an impossible choice in order to prevent the apocalypse. Stranded in the middle of nowhere with no access to the outside world, the family must decide what they believe before it’s too late.
Based on the 2018 novel The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul G. Tremblay, the film stars out actors Jonathan Groff (Hamilton, Glee) and Ben Aldridge (Fleabag) as Andrew and Eric, the two dads. It also stars Dave Bautista (Dune, Guardians of the Galaxy), Nikki Amuka-Bird (Persuasion), Abby Quinn (Little Women), Rupert Grint (Harry Potter series) and child actor Kristen Cui playing Andrew and Eric’s daughter, Wen.
Knock at the Cabin is the latest in a series of horror films to come out that have placed LGBTQ characters front and center in their stories, to varying effect. This summer Peacock released the highly anticipated slasher film They/Them which has been widely panned by queer audiences due its poorly received final act.
However some queer horror has prevailed. We have characters like Mindy Meeks (played by Jasmin Savoy Brown) introduced to the Scream universe who has quickly become a beloved queer horror heroine, and there was also the recent psychological horror film Hypochondriac, which was completely centered on a gay man of color. And let’s not forget the forthcoming Hellraiser film on Hulu starring trans actress Jamie Clayton as Pinhead and the return of the Chucky TV series which has a gay protagonist and a gay creator/ writer in Don Mancini.
It’s a good time to be a horror fan, but an even better time to be a queer horror fan. And while Hollywood doesn’t always get it right, the important thing is they are trying. We are finally a part of these stories that we have loved for so long and Knock at the Cabin looks to be continuing that upward trajectory for our community.
Knock at the Cabin is scheduled to be released in theaters on February 3, 2023. Keep up with the latest news on the film’s official website here.
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