Caddo Lake
Recap
Two lives converge as the water levels drop on Caddo Lake and strange things begin to happen.
Spoiler Level: None
Review
On Caddo Lake near the border of Texas and Louisiana, Paris (Dylan O’Brien) lost his mother in a car accident when she had a seizure and drove off a bridge. They were both in the car, but Paris survived, his mother did not. Three years later he is trying to get his life back on track while also investigating what caused his mother’s seizures. His ex-girlfriend Celeste returns to town for her grandfather’s funeral and the two begin to rekindle their relationship. But something strange is happening in the bayou as the water is desperately low, something is making strange noises and Paris realizes that his mother only had tremors during droughts when the water levels drop below a certain level, he believes there is some correlation. Elsewhere on Caddo Lake, teenager Ellie (Eliza Scanlen) has another fight with her mother and leaves her little step-sister, Anna (Caroline Falk) at home while she goes to spend the night at a friends house. Anna attempts to follow her but disappears in the swamp and the town comes together to search for her. Ellie begins to do her own investigation as tensions are still very high between her and her mother. Her stepfather attempts to make things right, but the two women just can’t seem to get along. Paris and Ellie’s investigations both lead them to areas of the lake normally underwater and their lives are inexplicably interconnected. Can the two find out the secrets of Caddo Lake? Watch and find out!
Caddo Lake is an American sci-fi thriller written and directed by Celine Held and Logan George and produced by the king of twists, M. Night Shyamalan. Originally entitled “The Vanishings” and “The Vanishings at Caddo Lake” the title was eventually just shortened to Caddo Lake. It was released on Max on October 10, 2024, and received mainly positive reviews on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, with a score of 6.3/10 with 81% of the 32 critic’s reviews being positive. The consensus on the website reads, “A windingly intricate and delirious sci-fi thrill ride washes over the senses and steadily flows through Caddo Lake.” Metacritic’s weighted average is a bit lower when comparatively with a score of 55/100 based on 7 critics reviews which indicates a “mixed or average” review.
I knew nothing of this film, hadn’t even heard of it, so I had no expectations. I like Dylan O’Brien, so I was excited to see his work in this movie. I was very pleasantly surprised by the entire production and must agree with Rotten Tomatoes’ consensus. The movie’s intricate plot weaves together all the character’s lives into a wonderfully suspenseful thriller. The lead characters’ performances were understated at times and a bit subtle, which added to the realism and dimensional complexity. Dylan does an amazing job as the troubled man who can’t really find the words to explain that he knows something wasn’t right about his mother’s death and his dedication and obsession with finding the truth. Equally as wonderful was Eliza Scanlen as the teen who can’t seem to get along with her own mother. She has anger issues over the disappearance of her own father, who supposedly ran off with another woman, but not everything is what it seems to be at Caddo Lake. The sound effects and score add to the eerie ambiance of the film and the subtle special effects add to the story and don’t distract. This film is as much a character study as it is a science fiction thriller and overall was an extremely enjoyable watch for me.
Final Thoughts
So very pleasantly surprised by the intricate plot line and well developed characters.
Now airing on MAX.
The New Movie of the Week: Caddo Lake
- Writing - 9/109/10
- Storyline - 10/1010/10
- Acting - 9/109/10
- Music - 8/108/10
- Production - 10/1010/10