As a faithful fan of M. Night time Shyamalan, I stay intrigued by the tasks he lends his identify to, no matter his combined filmography. His producing credit score on the brand new supernatural thriller “Caddo Lake” instantly piqued my curiosity. On the floor, it presents a decently crafted exploration of familial bonds set inside a posh thriller. True to the Shyamalan model, it guarantees a twist designed to upend character arcs and depart audiences reeling. Nonetheless, in contrast to “The Sixth Sense” or, to a lesser extent, “Indicators,” the revelations in “Caddo Lake” are way more complicated and fewer participating than the writer-directing duo Celine Held and Logan George might need hoped. Worse but, the movie is predictable.
The film follows two intersecting plotlines: one encompasses a younger man named Paris (Dylan O’Brien), who has remoted himself after a automobile accident claimed his mom’s life, whereas the opposite facilities on Ellie (Eliza Scanlen), a troubled lady trying to find details about her previous, significantly the disappearance of her father. Because the mysteries of “Caddo Lake” start to unfold, the connection between Ellie and Paris deepens, particularly after Ellie’s youthful stepsister, Anna (Caroline Falk), goes lacking within the lake.
Initially intriguing, very like one other Shyamalan-produced movie from earlier this 12 months, “The Watchers,” “Caddo Lake” turns into more and more convoluted because it introduces its twisty loopholes (or, extra precisely, plot holes). It takes viewers down an extended, winding street that the studio has requested superior reviewers to not spoil, despite the fact that there doesn’t look like a lot to spoil. Anybody with even a touch of widespread sense and familiarity with supernatural thrillers will probably be one step forward of the characters throughout the first twenty minutes.
This leads to a reasonably tepid expertise. Whereas credit score is because of Held and George for making an attempt to channel a Stephen King aesthetic amidst the tough narrative patches, O’Brien and Scanlen ship respectable performances regardless of the movie’s many unusual detours. At instances, it feels as if “Caddo Lake” abandons any pretense of rationalization, hoping as an alternative that audiences will turn into misplaced within the expertise. If the characters had been extra totally developed and their relationships extra fleshed out, this method might need labored. Nonetheless, what we’re left with is a movie brimming with concepts and potential that finally fails to cohesively deliver all the things collectively. Just like the characters it portrays, the movie slips away from itself.
CADDO LAKE streams on Max Thursday, October tenth.