Family history is a tree branch away

 CADDO LAKE (2024)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

When a story springs up about crossing a time barrier or portal into another dimension, I get goosebumps because such stories usually lend themselves to all sorts of probabilities and paradoxes. What's intrinsically fascinating about "Caddo Lake" is that it doesn't begin as such a fantastical tale. You walk into this movie thinking it is a domestic drama about a semi-dysfunctional family unit and, well, yes dysfunctional to be sure but not in the way you'd expect.

The opening scenes are a bit startling and grow more unnerving after the film is over. Paris (Dylan O'Brien) survived a horrible accident where his mother drove off of a bridge leaving only him to survive - he couldn't unbuckle his dying mother in time or he would've drowned. Questions arise about Paris' mother and how she could have a seizure that made her lose control of the car - were the seizures hereditary or not? Paris works to clear the swampy Caddo Lake for the building of a dam yet, one day, he hears strange sounds and discovers a necklace that looks exactly like the one his mother wore. As he searches for those otherworldly sounds, something causes him to briefly lose his hearing and his hand starts shaking. And then there are some wolves prancing around where they shouldn't be. What is going on at this lake? 

Ellie (Eliza Scanlen) has a family living near Caddo Lake and she feels like an outsider, always keeping her emotions in check. Her family consists of a stepfather and a sweet, younger stepsister named Anna, and other members of the family she doesn't communicate with. Ellie's relationship with her own actual mom is fraught with tension, often lashing out at each other over trivial matters. When innocent little Anna goes missing, everyone is looking for her including Ellie. Ellie takes her boat through the swampy areas and finds her hand shaking when she passes through something unnatural and extraordinary in this lake. Let's just say that when water fills the lake and when it drains, time displacement or timeslips are just a few tree branches away.

To reveal more of "Caddo Lake" would be cheating because of its skillful surprising twists and turns. Yet, unlike some latter M. Night Shyamalan flicks (who produced this film), the twisty narrative is firmly dependent on family and its roots, roots that go as far back as the 1950's. Without the highly credible and persuasive performances of Dylan O'Brien and Eliza Scanlen, the film might not resonate the same way. It is seemingly a Southern drama about a rebellious girl who can't connect with her family and has strained relationships with her emotionally unbalanced mother and her caring, no-nonsense stepfather. It is through the mystery of that swampy lake and its transcendent magical powers that she learns what having a supportive family really means. Paris also goes through a similar path of discovery, trying to find the truth about his late mother's medical condition and almost trying to reconnect with his ex-girlfriend. Their parallel stories kept me riveted through the whole film, so much so that you wish this was a miniseries. Yes, sci-fi fans, this is that good. Major kudos to the writer-director team of Celine Held and Logan George - if M. Night Shyamalan doesn't step it up, these two will one-up him in record time.

Ellie and Paris never exactly cross paths yet the force within this Caddo Lake will link their past, present and future in unimaginable ways. "Caddo Lake" ends with a gripping emotional crescendo that will leave you drained. I already saw it twice.