Title – Caddo Lake (2024) 

Directors – Logan George & Celine Held (Topside) 

Cast – Dylan O’Brien, Eliza Scanlen, Eric Lange, Lauren Ambrose, Caroline Falk

Plot – In the mysterious surrounds of Caddo Lake, the disappearance of young girl Anna (Falk) draws the lives of Paris (O’Brien) and teenager Ellie (Scanlen) together in ways they would never have suspected.   

“What happened here will always be a part of you” 

Review by Eddie on 12/12/2024

A streaming exclusive release that comes from the wheelhouse of M. Night Shyamalan (here acting as one of the films producers), Caddo Lake is for all intents and purposes a family drama mixed with a missing person mystery but as is the case with anything that has the Shyamalan name attached to it, directors Logan George and Celine Hand ensure this neat little mind-bender is a loaded offering sure to appease a wide array of viewers. 

A film that is best ventured into as blind as possible and with as little foresight into happenings as possible, George and Hand explore the interweaving lives of Dylan O’Brien’s Paris, Eliza Scanlen’s Ellie and Caroline Falk’s Anna when Anna goes missing and the central trio and their extended families get drawn closer together and further down a rabbit hole that lays at the very heart of their home town of Caddo Lake. 

Overcoming a relatively ho-hum start that seemingly sets up Lake for a 100 minutes of dramatic family affair back and forwards, George and Hand’s film starts to veer into far more interesting territory around the half-way mark that while familiar to anyone that’s watched similar films still feels fresh and exciting in a lot of ways, creating material that is sure to be debated by keen viewers both in the short and long terms. 

There’s certainly some limitations to what’s achieved here, with Lake often feeling like the type of product that is at times hamstrung by its budget constraints and having every piece of its narrative puzzle come together cohesively but for a low-budget offering of this ilk there’s enough smarts and surprises in store to overcome a lot of it’s shortfalls even if overall the film isn’t quite able to transcend into masterful must-see territory. 

Around all the edgy narrative and ducking and weaving that occurs throughout, there are two softly spoken but impressive turns from O’Brien and Australian export Scanlen who both are able to subtly bring Paris and Ellie respectively to life in memorable ways, ensuring that in Lake’s many character driven moments there’s a lot to enjoy with one suspecting based off this effort that George and Held will be a sought after commodity with actors keen to work with them to achieve similar results. 

Final Say – 

Overcoming it’s various missteps and constraints to create a unique and intriguing final offering, Caddo Lake is an above average streaming release that is one of the better things M. Night Shyamalan has attached his name too in recent years.  

3 necklaces out of 5