IMDb RATING
5.9/10
7.1K
YOUR RATING
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.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.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.
- Awards
- 3 wins & 1 nomination
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWhen Isaac arrives at the island in the beginning of the movie, he brings no supplies or clothes for a five day stay; the boat is empty.
- Goofs48 minutes in, when Isaac is looking at the corpse in the basement through the hole in the wall, he shines his flashlight on her face, and when he shines the light on her eye, her pupil dilates. This would not happen in a corpse. In fact, doctors check pupil dilation to see if a patient is brain dead. And the pupil will already fully relax (dilate) after death.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Horrible Reviews: Best Movies I've Seen In 2022 (2023)
Featured review
Impressive; a film that goes the distance with scarce baggage
The director of Caveat had basically no money, and only a total fool would let this stop him. Here is a new horror film from Ireland that reminds us that, even when the movie was crafted by a nobody, the right nobody will still find ways to live up to the great masters of dread - giants like Von Trier, Lynch, Tarr, even relative newcomers like Aster and Eggers.
Its limited cast and remote-island setting create a sense of isolation that's on par with The Lighthouse. The sets certainly look set-like, but in a good way, like our hero is trapped in one of the doll-houses from Hereditary, specifically one that's been forgotten and thus rotted with time. Certain motifs (and possible supernatural characters) will also bring to mind Von Trier's Antichrist and Lynch's Inland Empire. Even when the film is uneventful, the ambiance recalls such masterpieces of dread and desolation as The Turin Horse. It's all here!
That isn't to say that the film is unoriginal. The plot itself is an unusual one, albeit reminding me of one of those stories from the "no sleep" Subreddit where a user tells us about this "weird new job" he applied for that turns out to be something sinister indeed.
We meet Isaac, played by Jonathan French, an utterly unknown but still utterly convincing actor; we don't know much about the character, yet he exudes an unmistakable weariness that suggests a merciless past. He is tasked with "babysitting" a woman named Olga (Leila Sykes in a performance that sometimes made me think of Paul Dano), who lives alone in a dilapidated cabin on a small island in West Cork and only breaks out of her docile state when necessary. Olga's only companion, it seems, is the drumming rabbit toy that may or may not be alive (at least in some sense) but Isaac suspects there may be secrets behind these moldy walls.
There's a funny sequence when Isaac's employer, the hilariously uncaring Barret (Ben Caplan), outfits him with gear for his job: a chained harness that essentially puts him on a dog's leash. "Every job has a uniform", he nonchalantly explains.
This really is an outstanding directorial debut, and its many intricate touches explain how it can work so well despite "backyard movie"-level budget. There are several nifty and visually interesting shots, the dark-ambient score (reminding me both of Lustmord and Angelo Badalamenti) creates a consistent sense that something horrible is brewing, and the foley of creaking floors, howling winds, and rattling chains only adds to the already-stellar atmosphere.
And yes, this is one of those "atmospheric slow burns" that horror fans and film bros will notoriously go on and on about. Despite this, there are a few "BOO!" moments, which rarely bothers me when it's in an otherwise effective film (one that has "earned" its startles after skillfully building up a threatening mood/world) but the accompanying images just weren't very scary here. The scare chord almost seemed to compensate for the goofy-looking special effect.
Some parts are also a bit predictable, as is almost always the case with horror films, even when they're this impressive and obscure. Then again, obscure may not be the right word for movies like this, at least not much longer. I often make the case that certain streaming services have become a sanctuary for those who have ideas to share - those who make movies because they want to make movies, not because another big-studio classic "needed" a remake or gender-bent reboot.
Indeed, it's thanks to the horror-focused streaming service Shudder that we got to see Caveat, and the continuing COVID restrictions and theatre-release delays in the rest of the movie world mean we must continue looking for top-tier kino in new places. Last year, we had the Australian Relic by Natalie Erika James. This year, we have the Irish Caveat by Damian McCarthy. I am awaiting the next part in the trilogy (which I have now decided this is).
Its limited cast and remote-island setting create a sense of isolation that's on par with The Lighthouse. The sets certainly look set-like, but in a good way, like our hero is trapped in one of the doll-houses from Hereditary, specifically one that's been forgotten and thus rotted with time. Certain motifs (and possible supernatural characters) will also bring to mind Von Trier's Antichrist and Lynch's Inland Empire. Even when the film is uneventful, the ambiance recalls such masterpieces of dread and desolation as The Turin Horse. It's all here!
That isn't to say that the film is unoriginal. The plot itself is an unusual one, albeit reminding me of one of those stories from the "no sleep" Subreddit where a user tells us about this "weird new job" he applied for that turns out to be something sinister indeed.
We meet Isaac, played by Jonathan French, an utterly unknown but still utterly convincing actor; we don't know much about the character, yet he exudes an unmistakable weariness that suggests a merciless past. He is tasked with "babysitting" a woman named Olga (Leila Sykes in a performance that sometimes made me think of Paul Dano), who lives alone in a dilapidated cabin on a small island in West Cork and only breaks out of her docile state when necessary. Olga's only companion, it seems, is the drumming rabbit toy that may or may not be alive (at least in some sense) but Isaac suspects there may be secrets behind these moldy walls.
There's a funny sequence when Isaac's employer, the hilariously uncaring Barret (Ben Caplan), outfits him with gear for his job: a chained harness that essentially puts him on a dog's leash. "Every job has a uniform", he nonchalantly explains.
This really is an outstanding directorial debut, and its many intricate touches explain how it can work so well despite "backyard movie"-level budget. There are several nifty and visually interesting shots, the dark-ambient score (reminding me both of Lustmord and Angelo Badalamenti) creates a consistent sense that something horrible is brewing, and the foley of creaking floors, howling winds, and rattling chains only adds to the already-stellar atmosphere.
And yes, this is one of those "atmospheric slow burns" that horror fans and film bros will notoriously go on and on about. Despite this, there are a few "BOO!" moments, which rarely bothers me when it's in an otherwise effective film (one that has "earned" its startles after skillfully building up a threatening mood/world) but the accompanying images just weren't very scary here. The scare chord almost seemed to compensate for the goofy-looking special effect.
Some parts are also a bit predictable, as is almost always the case with horror films, even when they're this impressive and obscure. Then again, obscure may not be the right word for movies like this, at least not much longer. I often make the case that certain streaming services have become a sanctuary for those who have ideas to share - those who make movies because they want to make movies, not because another big-studio classic "needed" a remake or gender-bent reboot.
Indeed, it's thanks to the horror-focused streaming service Shudder that we got to see Caveat, and the continuing COVID restrictions and theatre-release delays in the rest of the movie world mean we must continue looking for top-tier kino in new places. Last year, we had the Australian Relic by Natalie Erika James. This year, we have the Irish Caveat by Damian McCarthy. I am awaiting the next part in the trilogy (which I have now decided this is).
helpful•2610
- TheVictoriousV
- Jun 28, 2021
- How long is Caveat?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Budget
- £250,000 (estimated)
- Gross worldwide
- $78,665
- Runtime1 hour 28 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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