Dylan O’Brien traipsing around the outdoors in the pouring rain with tight clothing. Need we say more? For those not instantly sold on the Teen Wolf / The Maze Runner superstar, rest assured there is plenty to this trippy, twisted mystery. Dual directing team Celine Held and Logan George craft a heady examination of generational trauma and its cyclical nature. Crossing two distinct stories and rippling through rich characterization, Caddo Lake brings psychological thrills and a tragic poignancy to its visitors.
After opening with a fatal car crash that kills his mother, Paris (O’Brien) must rebuild his life from the ground up. His work on a dam project keeps him afloat financially, and he pines for his ex-girlfriend, Cee (Diana Hopper, Goliath, Under My Skin), even from afar. When Paris ends up at the lake, there is no telling how he will ever get out again. Meanwhile, rebellious teen Ellie (Eliza Scanlen, Old, Sharp Objects) and her little sister, Anna (Caroline Falk), have a missing father to content with. Ellie ends up at Caddo Lake hunting for Anna when she too completely goes missing somewhere in the woods. Who has taken Anna, and what do they want?
The main performances from O’Brien and Scanlen are nuanced, if a little reserved. Paris and Ellie are equal leads in terms of screen time, and both make every second count. Paris’s angle of the story may interest visually, whilst Ellie’s contains the most answers for its twisty mysteries. Another notable turn comes from Lauren Ambrose as Ellie’s mom, whose grief-stricken matron recalls her electric turn as an obsessive mother in Apple TV’s Servant.
The lake and the surrounding woods become an ominous presence, including but not limited to: mysterious sounds, vanishing and reappearing boats, and an inexplicable outbreak of seizures affecting those within a certain area. The discovery of a half-eaten crocodile hints at further darkness lurking just below the surface. As the characters search for answers, the film takes a surreal turn, blending narratives in mind-bending ways. The eventual answers that we get are well worth the wait, but require the necessary patience for a slow-burn title.
Recalling the style of writer/director Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko, Southland Tales), and every bit a product of its producer, M. Night Shyamalan (Split, The Sixth Sense), Caddo Lake is a bizarro window into the strange worldview of its creators. An unexpected level of emotionality also elevates the movie from becoming a lesser-quality Lost clone. The established lore ends up fitting together like the perfect pieces of a puzzle. O’Brien fans should definitely check it out, as he has a very big role. There is something to be said about sticking the landing—Caddo Lake does just this, and more. The first half is definitely a little slow, yet each development ends up vital to the endgame. Try to decipher Caddo Lake as it dives headfirst into the murky waters of its namesake body of water.
Cross through the boundaries of time and onto Max, where Caddo Lake will be waiting on Thursday, October 10th.
