by Alice-Ginevra Micheli, Contributing Writer
We all have that feeling. You know the one: you finish watching a movie and something about it hits you in just the right spot. Whether it was the theme, the story, or even the characters, there was a quality about it that almost makes you want to turn around and go back a second, third, or even fourth time!
Bar the reality of living in the movie theater for the rest of your days, you turn to the rest of pop culture and start to look for other avenues where you can find that same feeling.
Well I’m here to make this plight easier for all. Each month, I take a piece of pop culture that was prevalent in the social consciousness — whether it is a movie, TV show, or something else — and then recommend other forms of media for those who want to stay in that world a little bit longer.
Welcome to your One Stop Pop, internet!
February is always an interesting month. Sometimes there are some huge hits, and sometimes there’s a lot of quiet; if you know what that means in movie world, you know that it’s never good.
However, February 2023 didn’t entirely leave us out to dry — it had some pieces of media where we were puzzling, thinking, and considering all of our choices. What is right and what, really, is wrong. I’m of course talking about M. Night Shyamalan’s new movie, Knock At the Cabin. With a crazy doomsday cult and a family asked to make the most impossible choice, this is a movie that had many people on razor’s edge.
In fact, some of those many people might be wanting to feel this a little bit more, and that’s where I come in. So without further ado, let’s stop mincing words, and let’s start giving some recommends.
Video Game: Heavy Rain
What other kind of video game would I mention, than one where it is the player’s choices that dictate all outcomes. One where your choice is literal life, and death. All themes from Knock At the Cabin, are also played upon in the recommended video game from this month, Heavy Rain.
Taking the form of a psychological thriller, this game centres around a serial murderer coined ‘The Origami Killer’, and the four characters following their own leads in a desperate attempt to prevent them from claiming a new victim.
Everything the player does has consequence, and that’s not just a line from the advertisers. In this game, small, careless decisions have major repercussions for the narrative, and ultimate outcome of the story. There is also very little time in which you can make those decisions, making alot of this gameplay based upon instinct, and gut feel – just like those detectives you’re used to seeing on television.
It’s thrilling, evocative, terrifying, and will have you wondering if the choice you made 3 hours ago is the reason for why your path is becoming darker than you originally intended. Think of it almost of a life sim, but if you were hunting down a murderer.
This game was also considered by many to be the first major player in bringing decision-heavy games back to the mainstream market. It took the interactivity of a regular game, and dialled it all the way up to 11, making every player consider their life decisions, as well as their game ones.
Award-winning, and spine tingling, if what Knock At the Cabin did was make you want to actively have to question your own morality, then this is the game for you.
Find it on the Playstation, or PC.
TV Show: Kaleidoscope
We’re staying on the theme of interactivity, folks, and this one is a weird one. This time we’re looking at a Netflix show that does away with traditional storytelling, and throws into the mix a user-led experience.
I am of course talking about Kaleidoscope, the heist show where the legends say you can watch the episodes in any order.
This is one of Netflix’s most intriguing experiments, since Black Mirror and Kimmy Schmidt’s “Choose Your Own Adventure” model, with an air of slight refinement behind it. However, the intriguing element here is that it’s asking you to look away from the gimmick that brought you in the first place, and look deeper into the broken lives of our crew, and how their special circumstances have all led them to this same moment.
It’s an experiment not only in storytelling, but also in character backstory. It’s your classic heist formula, but with a twist in more than one way, and that is really where you readers might be the most intrigued. After all, it’s all about choice, and how it will directly impact your experience.
If what really drew you to Knock At the Cabin was the cast of distinct and difficult characters, and the immersiveness of the tale, then this show will likely have you intrigued, engaged, and on a classic Netflix binge so that you can see how it ends.
All of this is only exacerbated by the fact that the cast boasts such recognizable faces as Rufus Sewell, Giancarlo Esposito, Jai Courtney, and Netflix darling, Tati Gabrielle. That alone will enlighten you as to the powerhouse of performance and story awaiting your viewing pleasure.
I’ve said the streaming service’s name about three times now, so if you’re interested, head-on over to the Big Red N, and watch it now.
Book: The Wonder by Emma Donoghue
Okay, let’s move away from interactivity, and toward the tension and psychological thrill at the center of the film.
A big part of Knock At the Cabin is the tension that almost immediately is set, and which doesn’t let up even after the credits have begun rolling. It’s a test to the nerves, as well as to curiosity, wherein the audience are desperate to know whether this hostage-taking group is crazy, or whether they’re actually telling the truth.
A book, which will also have you desperately wanting to know the answers to worrying questions is The Wonder by Emma Donoghue. You might recognize her name as the author behind successful novel, and even more successful movie, The Room (or for Netflix’s own film adaptation of The Wonder), and her next foray into the world of writing was just as compelling and distressing.
In it we follow an English nurse who has been brought to post-famine Ireland in order to watch a little girl who is claiming not to have required any sustenance in three months. That means no food, and barely any water, just the “manna” she receives from God in Heaven.
From when you meet this charming little Irish girl, and as you get further into the story, you will find yourself wondering whether this is actually possible. Are you reading a magical realism book, or is it all hiding something more sinister and dangerous for everyone involved?
Paired with excellent writing, and a constant questioning of morals and familial relationships, this is a story that you’ll want to swallow whole just so that you can have the answers faster.
Do I have your attention? Well good. If so, I recommend heading over to your favorite bookseller or library to see if The Wonder pique your interest as well.
Podcast: Examining Ethics
So now, we come to the moral quandary of Knock at the Cabin: the philosophizing and breakdown of what the limits of human ethics should be, and where morality comes into decision making. What better way to explore that, than through a regularly releasing podcast that explores the world’s big questions every week, and every episode?
Examining Ethics is a podcast that looks to bridge the gap between the average consumer and the academic ethic. Its expert cast of content creators look to break down basic processes and methods to the ethics madness in a way that will leave listeners with tools and ideas from some of the biggest names in moral philosophy and ethics.
Recently, everything from reproductive ethics to institutional care systems have been explored, extrapolated, and broken down by its hosts.
I know this sounds like you’d be signing up for schooling in your downtime, but I can guarantee that it really does pull you in with every explorative episode. It will arm you with what you need so that next time you put Knock At The Cabin on your watch list, it will be with a more learned and constructive eye. In fact, could it have you changing sides on a second watch?
The only way to find out is to head on over to Spotify or Apple Podcasts and take a listen now.
Oh boy! We’ve certainly torn down convention today, haven’t we? Whether it’s looking to enact impact decision making, learn further about the wonders of human principles, or just explore character and motivation to a level hitherto unheard of, there should be something here for everyone.
I will return next month with March’s biggest standout — which could have a fungal infection, if you know what I mean. However, until then, thank you for visiting SiftPop’s One Stop Pop. We hope to see you again soon!
You can read more from Alice-Ginevra Micheli, and follow her on Instagram and Letterboxd