‘Caddo Lake’ Delivers a Cinematic Shrug

Sweet Baby Ray’s tag line says it all: “The Sauce Is the Boss.”

Something similar holds for “Caddo Lake.” The Max thriller’s best asset is its title – the swampy landscape where the story takes place.

It’s a character unto itself, a sprawling vista that can swallow up someone if they’re not careful. If only the rest of the film proved as compelling.

“Caddo Lake” boasts solid acting, strong production values and a story we haven’t seen before. Yet the narrative never gets under our skin. The same applies for its small-town characters.

Young Ellie (Eliza Scanlen), is having trouble untangling her family ties in her quaint rural town. Another lost soul, Paris (Dylan O’Brien), is mourning the death of his mother. She died in a car crash following a seizure, a medical incident that doesn’t make sense to Paris.

Ellie’s sister Anna (Caroline Falk) runs off one day, sending the small town into a frenzy. They form search committees, rallying every available body to find the girl, hopefully alive and well.

Good luck. The sprawling waters would leave even the hardiest travelers at a loss. The cinematography makes fine use of that fact, creating an eerie canvas long before the girl goes missing. It only grows knottier from there.

Can Anna be found? What mysteries lurk within Caddo Lake? How do these stories intersect?

‘Caddo Lake’ Interviews: Eliza Scanlen And Filmmakers Celine Held And Logan George On Their Southern Sci-Fi Max Thriller – Punch Drunk Critics https://t.co/lzvzCHMSKX

— Punch Drunk Critics (@pdcmovies) October 8, 2024

Just know it’s no accident that M. Night Shyamalan co-produced the film. Writer-directors Celine Held and Logan George lean into that filmmaker’s vision, but they fail to replicate his sense of storytelling whimsy.

There’s little outwardly wrong with “Caddo Lake.” Solid performances. Credible production design. A setting that screams out for an unsettling mystery. The story never builds the requisite tension, and the angst in play feels secondary, in the service of a greater narrative engine that never roars to life.

All these earnest pieces can’t coalesce into a sci-fi yarn worth our time. Even scenes designed to ratchet up interest play out more like a puzzle with its pieces scattered across the room. The picture eventually comes into focus, but by then we’ve lost interest.

The real-life Caddo Lake, a cypress forest hugging the borders of Texas and Louisiana, inspired the filmmakers. That speaks to their aesthetic sense and potential. The unfolding story lacks the grit and gravitas to make the most of that unique setting.

HiT or Miss: “Caddo Lake” offers some tangled surprises but can’t sustain our attention.

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