Warning: This article contains spoilers for Knock at the Cabin.
When Knock at the Cabin begins with four strangers invading his family's vacation cabin, Andrew (Ben Aldridge) recognizes one of them as O'Bannion, a man who attacked him several years earlier, despite the fact that he's now using the fake name, Redmond (Rupert Grint). These "Four Horsemen" have seen Andrew's family in a series of visions, and believe that if one of them doesn't willingly sacrifice themselves, an apocalypse will wipe out all life on Earth. As Andrew valiantly protects his husband Eric (Jonathan Groff) and daughter Wen (Kristen Cui), he can't help but think that the invasion is connected to Redmond's hate crime, despite his current prophetic collusion.
Extremely skeptical, Andrew doesn't believe why he and Eric were chosen in Knock at the Cabin, or the strangers' status as harbingers, even when they begin killing each other off to prove the gravity of the situation. While Andrew thinks it's all an elaborate means to continue to act out homophobia against them, Eric, the more spiritual of the two, begins to suspect that there might be a reason that fate chose Redmond for the task of convincing them to stop end-times. The reason O'Bannion changed his name to Redmond could have more meaning than trying to avoid being recognized for what he'd done to Andrew in the past.
Redmond’s Criminal Past Could Have Made The Others Doubt His Legitimacy
With professional backgrounds that are nurturing, the Four Horsemen aren't typical boogeymen except for Redmond, which might have been why he kept his criminal past to himself. Leonard (Dave Bautista) is a teacher, Adriane (Abby Quinn) is a cook, and Sabrina (Nikki Amuka-Bird) is a nurse, but Redmond is a mystery to the other characters in Knock at the Cabin. Given that the Four Horsemen were strangers to one another until their visions forced them to bond on a message board, Andrew tries to use the fact that they didn't vet Redmond to question the legitimacy of his involvement and plant doubt in their entire purpose.
None of the Four Horsemen asked to carry the burden of their visions, and each of them clearly wrestles with the task they have to do. Redmond is the most antagonistic of them, which on one hand is explained by his background and past with Andrew, but can also be attributed to the fact that he knows he will be the first to die should Andrew and Eric fail to make a decision on the first day. He's placing his fate, and the fate of the world, in the hands of people who know what he's capable of and don't trust him.
Was Redmond’s Past With Andrew & Eric Really A Coincidence?
Given the kind backgrounds of three of the Four Horsemen, there's a reason Redmond was selected to share their visions, and it lies in his past with Andrew and Eric. As Eric points out to Andrew, the four strangers each represent an aspect of humanity; Leonard is virtue, Adriane is kindness, Sabrina is nurturing, and Redmond is malice. The pair must consider all of what humanity has to offer in order to make the choice that will save it through one of their own deaths.
Knock at the Cabin's big sacrifice works because Eric had his faith restored in humanity by seeing the reformation of someone like Redmond, and could see the significance of his decision. Even if Redmond's fate had been decided, any sacrifice the family made was potentially saving men like him, who didn't believe that they should exist but might change their minds one day. Ultimately, it didn't matter that Redmond's name was fake in Knock at the Cabin because his visions were real, and he had an important role to play in the apocalyptic parable placed before Andrew, Eric, and Wen.