The directorial debut of Damian Mc Carthy,Caveat(2020) centers around two people who are trappedin a crumbling house on an island. The film unfolds at a relatively slow place until its hasty third act, with the who, why and how of the story still remaining a mystery at the end.
However, the effective use of the haunted house formula makes up forthe rather incomplete narrative. The low-budget Irish film manages to create an atmosphere that is heavy with fear and dread, wherethe walls seem to be closing inon the characters as well as the audience.
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What Is Caveat About?
The amnesia-afflicted vagabond Isaac is offered an unusual job from his supposed friend Moe Barrett: he has to give company to his psychologically disturbed niece Olga for a few days at her isolated childhood home, where she insists on staying after her father’s suicide. Her mother also went missing nearly a year ago. As the task involves a hefty sum, even a confused Isaac states that “there has got to be more to it than that” — and there is. Upon arrival, Isaac discovers that the house is located on a remote island that is only accessible by boat. Secondly, since the schizophrenic Olga is paranoid about anyone entering her room (or coming near her at all), Isaac has to be harnessed and chained to a post in the basement that would restrict his movement to only selected parts of the house.
Isaac eventually accepts the job, and starts exploring his surroundings (as much as he can anyway). He finds a dog outside the house, but it is tied up as well. Olga alternates between sitting in a catatonic stupor and skulking around with a loaded crossbow that her father had shot himself with. She tells Isaac that her father was extremely claustrophobic and her “mad” mother locked him in the harness as a joke one day. After she had suddenly disappeared, he got stuck in the basement and, with his extreme claustrophobia, he ended up killing himself.
Isaac experiencesa number of unsettling events, from echoing sounds of laughter to light tugging on his chain, and he tries to make sense ofall the paranormal threatshe sees and hears.
What Makes Caveat So Terrifying?
Caveathas a limitednumber of jump scares, and instead focuses on creating palpable tension throughout the course of the film. Most of the disturbing visuals are set to unexplained noises or long stretches of unnerving silence.
The dank and decaying structure with doors opening by themselves. Grotesque portraits that change positions on their own. Olga’s ‘see no evil’ pose during her fits. The bunny with glassy eyes that starts drumming furiously in warning — but whether the danger is Olga or someone else entirely, it is not exactly clear. With the dark and narrow passageways and similar-looking confined rooms,a sense of claustrophobia sets infor the viewer as well. Since there is a lack of context (and the explanations provided are rather thin), this obscure reality becomes even more suffocating.
How Does Caveat End?
When Isaac finds the rotting corpse of Olga’s mother in a wall in the basement, Olga tells him that it was Moe and her father who had murdered her. She also reveals that Isaac has actually been to the house before: about a year ago, Moe had hired Isaac to lock his brother in the basement, where his claustrophobia would make him commit suicide. She proves this by showing him the red jacket he had left behind on his last visit, and also calls Moe, who confirms the story to Isaac.
A horrified Isaac manages to free himself from his shackles after stealing the key hanging from Olga’s mother’s neck. Olga tries to kill him but goes catatonic, which is when he locks her in the harness. He seeks refuge in her bedroom, but she shoots him in the leg with the crossbow afterward. While he is lying on the floor in pain, he regains his memory: when he had arrived at the house last year, he tried to warn Moe’s brother by leaving him a note. After hearing some noises from the basement, he opened the locked door and went downstairs, where he found it was too late as Moe’s brother has already shot himself. He had fled from the scene in panic, and Moe visited him at his place two days later. As he had discovered the note, he pushed Isaac off the balcony, but he survived (albeitwith memory loss issues).
Isaac finds a passageway that leads him to the basement, trapping him with the dead body. While he attempts to break down the wall, Olga appears on the other side and, moments later, Moe joins her. Moe spots Isaac through the hole in the wall, but that is when Olga shoots an arrow at her uncle and locks him in the basement. Moe asks Isaac to come out so they can attack Olga together, but he is actually preparing to kill him when he emerges. However, that is when Moe hears Isaac tell him through the intercom that he has already escaped, and Olga’s mother’s corpse steps out of the wall instead. The film ends with Isaac freeing the dog outside, and a chained Olga watching him from the doorway.
Right till its murky ending,Caveatseems tolet the audience decide half of the story. The true purpose of killing each other is never revealed. It can only be assumed that Olga’s dad could not bear the guilt of murdering his wife, which prompted Moe to get him killed. Either the spirit of his wife locked the door behind Olga’s dad in revenge, or maybe Olga did that to punish him since she also attacked Moe for the same purpose at the end.
It should also be noted that theghostly events in the housenever cause Isaac any harm — even when the corpse of Olga’s mother eyes him from inches away. Whether these occur to just scare him or lead him to the truth, it largely remains unknown.
