 | MOVIE DETAILS • Name: Caveat • Year: 2020 • Country: UK • Director: Damian Mc Carthy • Main cast: Jonathan French, Leila Sykes, Ben Caplan • Runtime: 88 minutes • Production company: HyneSight Films • TRAILER
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The creepy location of an old house on a remote island, monotone eerie music, the insecurity that provides darkness, very slow narrating tempo, a very small cast so the audience and the story don’t deviant from what the real plot is… those are common ingredients to find in horror films, but when that is all you have to offer the chances to be facing an enjoyable film get low, very low. And Caveat (2020) is a good example of that.
With a not very abundant budget, merely 3 actors, and that old Irish house as the playground where the action is developing, debutant writer and director of a feature film Damian Mc Carthy builds his story, a story that sadly has not much to offer. It could have served as an average short film, one of those that populate the genre film festivals and can eventually achieve a few followers. But, in my modest opinion, there is not enough potential for an almost one hour and a half movie.
Caveat (2020) is conceived as a simple story, but it holds some surprises that in the end get too predictable. A man with some memory loss problems takes a job that seems to be more of a bad idea with every new step they are taking into the creepy house. That house holds some secrets, and the complete truth is never spoken at first sight. None of the characters are what they seem, so the tragic ending emerges.
The actors do all that is in their hands, trying to bring credibility to a group of tormented characters that remain too superficial, never developed enough for a better understanding. The story also drifts wasting time until arriving at the final resolution, and the photography of the dark sordid rooms of the house is too accommodated. Our worst fears after the first instances of the movie became true.
From the initial moments, through the running time, and after the final conclusions, Caveat (2020) feels like a movie made by a group of filmmakers that tried to make the best out of a story that was cursed from the start to never be attractive enough. And the result is a film that can result entertaining enough if you just give up and accept with resignation what is on the screen, but that is as forgettable as insubstantial. Go for it if you have nothing better to watch, but don’t expect much.
RATE: 4/10
IMDB URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt7917178
