The new film of the week: Caddo Lake

At Caddo Lake near the Texas-Louisiana border, Paris (Dylan O’Brien) lost his mother in a car accident when she suffered a seizure and drove off a bridge. They were both in the car, but Paris survived, his mother did not. Three years later, he’s trying to get his life back together while 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 level is extremely low, something is making strange noises and Paris realizes that his mother only shudders during droughts when the water level falls below a certain level. He believes there is a connection. Elsewhere at Caddo Lake, teenager Ellie (Eliza Scanlen) has another argument with her mother and leaves her little stepsister Anna (Caroline Falk) at home while she spends the night at a friend’s house. Anna tries to follow her, but disappears into the swamp and the town goes looking for her. Ellie begins to do her own research as tensions between her and her mother are still very high. Her stepfather tries to make things right, but the two women just can’t seem to get along. Paris and Ellie’s investigations take them both to areas of the lake that are normally underwater, and their lives are inexplicably connected. Can they find out the secrets of Caddo Lake? Watch and find out!

Caddo Lake is an American science fiction thriller film written and directed by Celine Held and Logan George and produced by the king of twists, M. Night Shyamalan. Originally titled “The Vanishings” and “The Vanishings at Caddo Lake”, the title was eventually shortened to “The Vanishings at Caddo Lake”. Caddo Lake. It was released on October 10, 2024 on Max and received mostly positive reviews on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes with a score of 6.3/10, with 81% of the 32 reviews being positive. The website’s consensus reads: “A twistingly intricate and insane sci-fi thrill ride floods the senses and flows steadily through them.” Caddo LakeMetacritic’s weighted average is slightly lower compared to a score of 55/100 based on 7 critic reviews, indicating a “mixed or average” rating.

I knew nothing about this film, hadn’t even heard of it, and therefore had no expectations. I like Dylan O’Brien, so I was excited to see his work in this film. I was very pleasantly surprised by the entire production and have to agree with the Rotten Tomatoes consensus. The film’s complicated plot weaves all of the character’s lives together into a wonderfully exciting thriller. The main characters’ performances were at times understated and somewhat subtle, adding to the realism and dimensional complexity. Dylan does an excellent job as the troubled man who can’t really find the words to explain that he knows something was wrong with his mother’s death and his commitment and obsession to find out the truth. Eliza Scanlen was equally wonderful as a teenager who can’t seem to get along with her own mother. She’s struggling with anger over the disappearance of her own father, who’s rumored to have run off with another woman, but all is not as it seems at Caddo Lake. The sound effects and score add to the film’s eerie atmosphere and the subtle special effects complement the story rather than distract. This film is both a character study and a sci-fi thriller, and overall was an extremely entertaining film for me.