Caveat (2020)

Director: Damian Mc Carthy

Starring: Ben Caplan, Johnny French, Leila Sykes

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.

Isaac (Johnny French), a man with partial amnesia, is hired by his landlord Moe (Ben Caplan) to look after his psychologically unstable niece Olga (Leila Sykes), who lives alone on a remote island after her father committed suicide and her mother simply vanished. (Wow, now there’s a lot of information for you in just one sentence!).

The only reason Isaac agreed to look after Olga is because he needs the money, and he was assured Olga wouldn’t be any trouble and would probably spend most of her time in her room. The first thing that bothered Isaac on arrival at the house, was the fact Moe never mentioned she lived on an island. (Isaac can’t swim.)

Moe then gives an absurd reason why Isaac would have to be strapped in a harness, which will be chained to the basement floor and only allow Isaac access to certain parts of the house. Reluctantly, Isaac agrees…and this was where I almost stopped watching. Why did he have to be chained again? And why would any person in his right mind agree to be chained down with no-one else nearby accept for the girl who is nuts? He couldn’t even change his clothes, or get to the bathroom to wash up or answer to nature’s calls. This was just stupid and needed better justification! (He could have accidentally stepped on a trap that was chained to the floor.)

From that moment onwards I didn’t really care for the movie. I should have stopped watching. Almost the entire movie is set in the house and mainly features just two characters: Isaac and Olga. The film becomes difficult to watch as the two start distrusting one another and even try to kill each other – all within the confines of the house.

The film is unfortunately also very dark – and I mean literally. It is a slow-paced movie and to be honest, I didn’t find it all that interesting. There is a twist as Isaac starts remembering things, and the reason behind him being hired by Moe, but it wasn’t enough for me to enjoy the movie.

‘Caveat’ will be best remembered for the creepy, drumming rabbit. There is so much potential for this bunny to become a movie icon, and would be nice if a franchise could be built around it – like the ‘Conjuring’ franchise with the possessed doll Annabelle. The bunny certainly is the highlight of the movie, as well as a very good performance by Johnny French.

Would I watch it again? No.