Caught

This movie does more through what it does not show or tell than many movies do through spoonfeeding and gratuitous FX. I especially enjoyed how the film teased you with the promise of a "reveal" then withheld it and let the viewer try to understand what was "caught." This film is for those who like to use their imaginations. A "lo-if" film reminiscent of The Invitation or The Sound of Your Voice.

Not recommended for those without an abundance of patients. Although it's a good slow burn thriller, so little is explained by the ending that it may leave America viewers (like me) very frustrated.

If you want a movie that explains everything explicitly, this is not for you. The plot takes you through the course of a single day that, for the English couple, gets progressively worse. There are many metaphors at work here, but Cian Barry and April Pearson take creepiness to new heights - whether it is his turn as Bryan Ferry's psycho idiot brother or Pearson's disintegrating zombie - and their naivety about the human world is at odds with what we expect. This is seen in Crow and Sumner's 1972 vintage couple, who frame the events and their visitors in the context of what real people, in the real world would expect. They do not confuse a fictional world of zombies and alien invasions with reality so, if you are used to seeing movie characters default to "aliens, of course!" or "Zombies, what was I thinking?" then this is not for you. You are expected to do some thinking and speculation of your own.

Two creepy strangers show up for tea: that is a premise, and depending on what you do with it, not a particularly bad one. However it is not a story. Occasionally having something creepier inexplicably happen is adding incident; it is still not a story. This film, sadly, has a premise and enough incident to make for a mysterious half hour but then it would be nice if it went somewhere from there. And it doesn't. A lot is hinted at but nothing elaborated on or explained. The actors are all rather good but they are only given fifteen minutes worth of screenplay and forced to stretch and repeat until the film ends. Almost literally. When characters finally learn a little of what has been so confusingly hinted at, it doesn't change anything for the situation, and the audience is never even let in on it, because to resolve a story and reveal mysteries you would need a story and at least some ideas to begin with. And all they had was a premise. The whole exercise becomes ultimately pointless. It might have been a successful and well-made short film, but as a feature it is a frustrating trial.

This was an interesting story to me. For an English horror movie, not bad at all. And the ending, was not what I expected at all.

6/10