Loner Isaac (Jonathan French) suffers from partial memory loss and heās offered a well-paid job by his old landlord Barrett (Ben Caplan). The job is to look after Barrettās troubled niece Olga (Leila Sykes), who is holed up in an isolated house on an island. Swayed by the money on offer, Isaac accepts but when he arrives at the house, heās told he has to be locked into a vest thatās chained to the basement so he canāt leave the house or enter Olgaās room. After accepting, Isaacās memory starts to return and he finds himself battling for survival.
The first thing to say about āCaveatā is that the opening is incredibly effective. Never has a drumming bunny toy (not the Duracell one mind) been so scary and film-maker Damian Mc Carthy instantly catches you off-guard. That scene alone is enough to hook you in for the rest of the film, which is a weird and wonderful rollercoaster as a cat-and-mouse game unfolds as Isaac learns the secrets of the house and memories from his past begin to surface.
![Caveat](https://publish.entertainment-focus.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/caveatrev-3-1024x429.jpg)
Mc Carthyās strength as a film-maker is the tension and atmosphere he creates. The premise of āCaveatā may be a little questionable ā thereās no good reason Isaac would agree to being chained and restricted for example ā but the way itās been filmed and directed makes you put those quibbles to one side. Everything you seen on screen is a little strange and itās deeply unsettling. For example, most of the time we see Olga, sheās sat with her face in her hands mute. Itās unnerving and made all the worse by when we do see her moving, sheās carrying a crossbow.
āCaveatā explores many different themes but itās the exploration of mental health thatās the draw here. Isaac believes that he has never been to the house before but as memories begin to surface, he wonders if thatās actually true. Whatās fun as a viewer is that you donāt know which of the characters to believe as they are all unreliable narrators. That forces you to enter into a guessing game and as the tension escalates, youāll find your mind changing frequently.
On the downside the film has some pacing issues, which means it lulls a little more than it should. The other issue I had, is that some scenes are so dark that itās actually very hard to see whatās going on. I appreciate that adds to the unsettling nature of the film but there are a few too many long stretches where youāre straining to figure out whatās going on.
![Caveat](https://publish.entertainment-focus.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/caveatrev-1-1024x429.jpg)
Jonathan French is excellent as Isaac. His performance is emotive, desperate and at times bordering on paranoid. For me, heās the strongest cast member here and itās a shame that Leila Sykes as Olga doesnāt always manage to match him. Sykes does a solid enough job but she doesnāt quite have the edge that French does.
āCaveatā is a film that sets out to unsettle you and succeeds with ease. In parts it reminded me of 2017ās āPossumā by Matthew Holness but overall itās a much better film than that. āCaveatā will keep you guessing until the very end and there are so many twists and turns, youāll be questioning whatās real and what isnāt just like Isaac does.
Cast: Jonathan French, Ben Caplan, Leila Sykes Director: Damian Mc Carthy Writer: Damian Mc Carthy Certificate: 18 Duration: 88 mins Released by: HyneSight Films
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