Despite his controversial directorial career over the decades, I’ve always considered myself a fan of M. Night Shyamalan. Some of my favorite films were directed by a director, such as the 2002 film. Signsalthough I also liked some of his projects, but most moviegoers did not (Lady in the water, Glass, Knocking on the cabin). The last project he joined was Caddo LakeMax’s original, becoming his third producer on a film he didn’t direct. However, the inclusion of his name was an anticipation before watching the film.
Caddo Lake written and directed by Celine Held and Logan Georgebest known for their famous drama Upper part. The film follows two characters: Paris (Dylan O’Brien), a young man isolated from society after a car accident that killed his mother, living near Caddo Lake in Louisiana, and Ellie (Eliza Scanlen), a rebellious, troubled young girl seeking to learn more about her past. Although the couple’s stories seem unrelated at first glance, the disappearance of Ellie’s half-sister Anna (Caroline Falk) causes their lives to converge around her disappearance and the mysteries of the lake.
The interesting mystery of Caddo Lake ends without intriguing characters.
But the entire cast delivers impressive performances.
Like many other films starring Shyamalan, Caddo LakeThe mystery takes a winding road for Paris and Ellie to investigate as both search for specific truths connected to the central location. O’Brien and Scanlen’s performances stand outeverything from their facial expressions to the way they dialogue, showing the pain and fear they both feel in their situations. Lauren Ambose is also great as Celeste. Yellow Jackets The alum portrays a panicked mother searching for her lost daughter with an expert level of intensity. Eric Lange’s performance as Ellie’s stepfather Daniel also helped strengthen her character in their complicated family dynamic.
Without interesting characters to carry the story forward, the intriguing elements of their – admittedly creative – investigations fall flat.
Unfortunately, this strong performance is coupled with poor character writing, which never makes Paris and Ellie intriguing beyond their status as main characters. Paris in particular has been underutilizedwith the beginning of the film being complicated by the loss of his mother, which becomes muted as the film progresses. While Ellie often feels like a true protagonist since her half-sister disappeared, her character isn’t as compelling as one might imagine given the layers of complexity hinted at throughout the film.
Because Caddo Lake This is a detective film that focuses on what happened to Anna and why she disappeared. But without interesting characters to propel the story forward, the intriguing elements of their – admittedly creative – investigation fall flat. In the case of Paris his part in the story doesn’t start to seem important until about halfway through. The film needed better moments that showed the reasons why we should care about its characters and what motivates them to make decisions later in the story.
Despite the interesting premise, Caddo Lake ultimately fails its delivery
The characters’ confusing decisions make for frustratingly boring viewing.
At a specific moment, Caddo Lake pulls back the curtain to reveal the essence of the mystery, offering a new perspective on Anna’s disappearance. However, in many ways it is similar to Observersbig twist, another Shyamalan project this year, from now on the secret seems less effective. This results in a series of events that feel more like bullet points than moments that move the story or characters forward, dulling some of the more positive elements of the film’s first half.
This includes some baffling character decisions that seemed to exist simply to fill us in on the details of the mystery, except for one ridiculous decision made by Paris that was so illogical that it seemed to happen because there was no other a way to convincingly trample history. the intended path of history after this. By this point, the film ceases to be fully developed, instead the mystery acts as a device to allow events to happen without much resonance.
Despite the presence of interesting ideas for better revealing his secret, Caddo Lake fails due to underdeveloped characters and a story that becomes less and less engaging the longer it drags on. While the stellar performances make up for its disappointing qualities, they are not enough to save the film from being a dull, sometimes tedious tale of a mysterious disappearance. Despite the fact that there are hints of Shyamalan here, the film is simply not worth recommending even to the most ardent fan of his work.
Caddo Lake will be available to stream on Max on Thursday, October 10th. The film runs 99 minutes and is rated PG-13 for some disturbing/bloody images, thematic elements and brief language.