At first, I thought Shyamalan meant a metaphorical building here. After all, the man has a way with comparisons, as evidenced by a great recent interview with Yahoo (per Kevin Polowy on Twitter) in which he describes his films as “savory” and “sweet.” But it turns out Shyamalan was talking about working on the films on two different levels — literally. “I’m running upstairs [to] this side and the editor would show me something here, or the composer would show me something here. And I’d say, ‘This movement needs to go like that,'” the filmmaker told Collider. Both projects were made by Blinding Edge Pictures, the production company Shyamalan founded back in 1998.
“And you just go to the next question,” Shyamalan continued. “It was almost like playing multiple games of chess at the same time.” Whether or not Shyamalan won both games is still up for debate, as the final season of “Servant” is still unfolding, and “Knock at the Cabin” premieres this week. So far, in a response that’s definitely not new for the filmmaker behind “The Village” and “Signs,” opinions on the latter have been mixed. /Film’s Chris Evangelista called “Knock at the Cabin” a return to form for Shyamalan, and his “most visually assured film” to date.
Regardless of the results, Shyamalan says that project multitasking worked well for him. He shared: “I found that I stayed healthier rather than retreating to my unhealthy version of myself of imposter syndrome, or being destructive, or whatever it is, ego-driven stuff, that I was just reacting to the material.” Audiences will continue to see how his new strategy plays out, as Shyamalan tells Collider he already has three more movie ideas in the works.
“The Knock at the Cabin” is now in theaters.