Director: Damian Mc Carthy

Writer: Damian Mc Carthy (Screenplay)

Starring: Ben Caplan, Conor Dwane, Jonathan French, Leila Skyes

Plot: A lone drifter suffering from partial memory loss accepts a job to look after a psychologically troubled woman in an abandoned house on an isolated island.

Runtime: 1 Hour 28 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Caveat starts when Isaac (French) reluctantly accepts a job from his landlord Barret (Caplan) to watch over his niece Olga (Skyes) on a remote home on an island, while she is dealing with her own psychological problems.

As Isaac prepares for the job, he learns he must wear a chain harness around the home and as he looks to put the missing pieces of his own life together, he starts to learn the truth about what happened on the island.

Thoughts on Caveat

Characters & Performances – Isaac is the man hired to watch over the house, he has lost his memory and is left feeling uncomfortable with the idea the house is on an island and that he must be harnessed. He must navigate the house when he starts to learn what has happened there. Jonathan French does do a great job in the leading role, feeding us with a character that is always on edge through the film. Olga is the niece that has psychological problems because of what has happened in her past can spend one moment like any other woman, but then be stuck in a catatonic state the next. Olga does fill in gaps from the past, which she will reveal slowly through the film. Leila Sykes does bring us a disturbing character that you just know has something not right about her.

Story – The story here follows a man who takes a role watching over a house with a psychological disturbed young woman in, only for the rules to make the experience turn into a slow uncomfortable experience for the man, as the truth about the house is revealed. This is a real slow burning story that is more about what has happened before, slowly getting revealed to bring extra twists into the actions of the characters. It is done in an effective way that show how to balance the line between not giving us much and not given us enough, grabbing the attention to see where the story will go next.

Themes – Caveat is an atmospheric horror that slowly builds up the tension through the film, while we might spend a lot of time in darkness, which is one of the weaknesses in the film, the isolated location and trapped figure add to the movie.