Caveat

Last September I wrote a short review of writer/director Damian Mc Carthy’s (he prefers his last name spelled with a space between the “Mc” and “Carthy”) 2024 film, Oddity (here’s a link). I praised his distinctive and off-kilter sensibility and wrote that he was a welcome new talent to the horror field. That’s all true, but Oddity was actually his second feature. His first was 2020’s Caveat, which I think went under most people’s radar. It shouldn’t have. Caveat is full of creepily evocative visuals, has an original take on the haunted house story, features an all-timer jump scare and is as good or even better than the rightly praised Oddity.

In modern-day Ireland, Isaac (Johnny French) suffers from amnesia after a bad fall. His landlord, Moe (Ben Caplan), offers him a decidedly unusual offer of short-term work. Moe needs someone to look after his adult niece, Olga (Leila Sykes), for a week. Olga is staying in her late father’s home after his suicide, but due to a mental condition (Moe describes it as “schizophrenia or catatonic stupor”) she shouldn’t be left alone there. Olga’s mother, who was thought to be mad, disappeared eight months ago. Isaac needs the money, so he agrees to be Olga’s temporary guardian. He’s not thrilled when he discovers that the house is on an island (he can’t swim) and can only leave when Moe picks him up on a boat in a week, but that isn’t the worst part. 

Olga has a fear of anyone entering her bedroom at night, which is understandable considering that she can go catatonic for hours whenever she becomes anxious. But instead of putting a strong lock on her bedroom door, the solution the family has come up with is uniquely terrible. The caveat Moe should’ve given Isaac when offering the job is this: Isaac will have a wear a chest harness attached to a very long chain all the time he’s in the house. It’s long enough to get around in the building, but not long enough to enter Olga’s room. He’s essentially a prisoner in the house until Moe returns to set him free. Olga is strange enough, wandering around the house carrying a crossbow and a weathered-looking rabbit toy, but as Isaac explores the home, seeing pictures fall from the wall and hearing odd voices over the old intercom, he realizes that his situation is much more dire than he thought.

French is quite good as Isaac, who begins the story somewhat disoriented from his accident and amnesia only to get this very strange job that quickly becomes nightmarish. His performance skillfully charts the confusion of a man not quite sure of who he is to a person going through an ordeal which leads to the knowledge of who he doesn’t want to be anymore. Caplan does a nice job as Moe, a man of clearly dubious intent, and Sykes is memorable as the haunted but not helpless Olga. Inma Pavon makes a strong impact as Olga’s mother, but Conor Dwane has too little screen time to fully register as Olga’s father.

Mc Carthy’s direction, even in his first feature, is subtle and assured. He’s more about palpable atmosphere (credit to Damian Draven’s amazing dilapidated house production design) than fancy camera moves, about creating an ever-growing sense of unease and suspense that pays off in sudden and unexpected ways. He’s especially talented at giving his movies strong opening sequences – the one in Oddity could be its own short film. The beginning of Caveat establishes the setting and tension immediately. 

A tiny lamp barely lights the corner of a dingy-looking room. Wallpaper is sloughing off the walls. Into this decayed place steps a wary young woman (we don’t know this is Olga yet) carrying a threadbare-looking rabbit toy before her as if to ward off evil. Its glass eyes are rolled back as if they’re trying to escape into their sockets. She’s bleeding from her nose and has clearly been through some kind of trauma. A drone-y soundtrack slowly raises its volume as she points the toy at various dark corners of the house, looking for something or someone. Suddenly the rabbit toy begins to play its drum, the staccato noise startling. As she approaches a darker area, it drums faster and faster and… title credits. A few minutes and we’re already immersed in the setting and situation.

Mc Carthy’s writing is equally sharp. The basic concept of a man tethered into what might be a haunted or at least highly suspect house and having to figure a way out of his predicament is original enough, but this is just the surface level of the story. Isaac has a lot to discover, and before things are concluded, it’s hard to know whom to trust and what in fact is happening. Mc Carthy makes great use of the isolated old house, from dimly lit rooms to claustrophobic crawlspaces. Isaac’s chain is bolted to the floor of the basement, which is unnerving enough, but Mc Carthy also creates one of the best jump scares in years, which is mostly effective because the rest of the film lulls one into thinking this isn’t the kind of movie that would have a jump scare, and then – BAM – there it is.

It should be noted that the rabbit toy makes a cameo in Oddity, for those who like to keep an eye out for those sorts of things. Mc Carthy is one of the most talented and promising new filmmakers in the horror film genre, and if you haven’t experienced his movies, you have quite a treat in store.