Awards Columnist/Chief Film Critic

M. Night Shyamalan has certainly been busy this year, churning out his signature brand of suspense thrillers. So far in 2024, we’ve had his daughter’s directorial effort The Watchers , which he produced; the intriguing modest hit Trap , starring another daughter and which he directed and produced; and now Caddo Lake , which is heavily billed as from “Producer M. Night Shyamalan.” The film is slated to make a streaming debut on Max this Thursday rather than hit theaters like the rest of his feature output, but it undeniably fits nicely into his own filmography, even if he’s handed over the writing and directing duties to the team of Celine Held and Logan George.

This film actually went into production exactly three years ago under the title The Vanishing At Caddo Lake , but now that it's finally hit the streets, that title has been shortened because the original probably gave away too much. Shyamalan is notorious for keeping his plot twists under wraps, and this film lives or dies by not knowing much about them, which is a bit of a hindrance to sticking with the intricate machinations of the dueling storylines to finally get to the heart of it. Max doesn't actually provide press releases, but instead a one-sheet for reviewers warning them not to reveal a bunch of facts about various characters, including the time period in which it's set. That reading turns out to be just as complicated as the script.

That said, this is indeed the baby of Held and George who became fascinated with the real-life Caddo Lake, located on the border between Texas and Louisiana, and you can see why, as it’s just as spooky and atmospheric as the Cape Fear setting, and provides the perfect setting for a mystery. Still, it takes a while to figure it all out. The story focuses primarily on a few characters who live in the area. One of them is Paris (Dylan O’Brien) who is fixated on the tragic death of his mother in a car crash in the lake, something he seems completely obsessed with solving himself, and tries to connect his mother’s attacks to a larger mystery. On a different track, we meet Ellie (Eliza Scanlen), an energetic teenager who is upset over the disappearance of her father, in a strained relationship with her mother Celeste (Lauren Ambrose), and idolized by her 8-year-old stepsister Anna (Caroline Falk). Ellie just wants to get away from this place and is often seen on the lake driving her motorboat. Her stepfather Daniel (Eric Lange) tries to keep the peace in the family. When Anna, by herself, runs out onto the lake like her older stepsister does, she goes missing and everyone starts looking for her, a search that ultimately yields more than anyone expected – the characters in this film and the audience watching them.