Forget Trap, Max's Top 1 Mind-Blowing Flick by M. Night Shyamalan Is So Much Better
It's a hidden gem worth checking out.
The most watched movie on Max right now is Caddo Lake, written and directed by Logan George and Celine Held. The duo has a long history of working together: the directors have made several short films, the debut Topside, and worked on the series Servant and recent Dark Matter.
Caddo Lake was produced by M. Night Shyamalan. It's no surprise that the director of The Sixth Sense was interested in George and Held's film. This is a mystical story with unexpected plot twists that Shyamalan himself is famous for.
What Is Caddo Lake About?
Ellie lives with her mother Celeste, stepfather Daniel, and eight-year-old sister Anna in the town of Karnack, Texas, on the shores of Caddo Lake. The locals use boats rather than cars to get around.
One day, Anna disappears in the middle of a swampy pond. The guy, Paris, who is beginning to suffer from strange attacks, discovers the injured girl and takes her to a safe place, but not to her relatives.
Caddo Lake Is an Intense Story with Plot Twists
Caddo Lake is one of those movies where it's best to know as little as possible about the plot. The film is divided into two seemingly unrelated storylines. The main characters are Ellie and Paris, both of whom enjoy boating on the lake, but their paths never cross.
George and Held's movie slowly coalesces into a single puzzle. The plot revolves around a huge dam on the lake, built in 1952. We will not reveal all the cards, except to say that really strange things are happening in the middle of Caddo, and at some point a portal opens between several eras.
Caddo Lake Resembles Netflix's Hit Dark
The movie resembles the German hit Dark in its intricate system. Only in the series, there was a nuclear power plant in the town of Winden, and in Caddo Lake there's a dam. In both cases, an individual set in motion a chain of irreversible phenomena with his own hands.
In the second half, the solution is found, and all the little details that the viewers gradually learned about fall into place and add depth to the story.
A pendant found in the woods, dead butterflies and chance encounters – everything in a mystical thriller has a meaning. There are no jump scares, but at some point the tricks of fate and the irreversibility of events make you feel uncomfortable.