Max - Caddo lake : Let’s talk with Celine Held, Logan George

By Mulder, Los Angeles, 30 september 2024

The upcoming thriller Caddo Lake, written and directed by Celine Held and Logan George, is generating significant anticipation as it prepares for its release on Max on October 10, 2024. Starring Dylan O'Brien and Eliza Scanlen, the film has an impressive production team, including the acclaimed M. Night Shyamalan, who serves as a producer through his Blinding Edge Pictures label. Filming for the project wrapped in November 2021, and the thriller is set to captivate audiences with its eerie atmosphere and suspenseful narrative.

Initially titled Vanishings and later The Vanishings at Caddo Lake, the project attracted attention in 2021 with O'Brien and Scanlen leading the cast. Filming took place in Shreveport, Louisiana, where the directors sought to recreate the 1998-2004 period through local contributions of era-appropriate vehicles. Over time, the title evolved to Caddo Lake, emphasizing the mysterious setting that plays a crucial role in the story.

The plot centers on the disappearance of an eight-year-old girl, which triggers a connection to past deaths and disappearances at the enigmatic Caddo Lake. As Held and George's third directorial project, the film delves into themes of loss, mystery, and the interplay between the past and present. The filmmakers’ experience with emotionally intense narratives, as seen in their previous work Topside, has prepared them to craft a suspenseful yet deeply personal film.

Q: Caddo Lake’s atmosphere is central to the story—what inspired you both to base the film in such a unique location ?

Celine Held: We saw a photo of this lake on Reddit, and it was May 2020. We weren’t doing anything else, so we were like, let's just do it. We borrowed my mom's car from Pittsburgh, drove down to Texas, and lived off the lake for a few months. We wrote this wild story.

Q: M. Night Shyamalan served as a producer for the film. How did his influence shape the development of Caddo Lake, particularly with its suspense and tension ?

Logan George: We shared a finished script with him when we were working on his show Servant, and he loved it and said, like, "I want to make this." He was super influential in making sure we were hitting every necessary beat—whether it’s a twist, a revelation, or a character decision—because there are a lot of them in the film. It’s pretty complex, and he ensured the audience remained one-to-one with the protagonists.

Q: The film deals with mysterious disappearances and past deaths—how did you balance creating tension while also exploring the emotional depth of the characters, especially with Dylan O’Brien and Eliza Scanlen?

Logan George: There’s the genre umbrella of this girl going missing and the thriller aspect of it, and that’s where we love to live as filmmakers—with this sort of propulsive energy. But there’s also a very strong emotional core to the story.

Q: Given that Caddo Lake was shot three years ago, how did you maintain its relevance and ensure that its suspenseful themes would resonate with audiences today ?

Celine Held: It was shot in fall 2021, but we did a re-shoot in fall 2022. It took a long time to edit. I actually gave birth in between, which is part of the reason for the delay, and then there was the strike, so we had a few little delays along the way. Part of it is our daughter, and I actually just gave birth again to our son, and I’m now done giving birth. So those are the delays, but the delay happened, and we’re here with the film. We think it’s timeless, and we hope it continues to resonate.

Q: What do you hope audiences take away from Caddo Lake, particularly regarding its themes of loss, mystery, and the connections between past and present ?

Celine Held: We hope our audience, at the end of the film, realizes that at the core of it is a drama wrapped in this thriller sci-fi element, which is like the reason for the drama in many respects. We hope that after watching the movie, you want to call your mom, which maybe isn’t your normal end-of-thriller type of wish, but we hope you call your mom.

Q: Your previous works, like Topside, also explored human emotions in intense circumstances. How does Caddo Lake build upon your approach to telling deeply personal stories within a suspenseful narrative ?

Logan George: Well, I think our biggest mandate for the stories we like to tell is that there isn't an explicit villain or hero. Everybody’s on their own journey and thinks they’re the hero of their own story. So it was important that even though we were in a genre space, there wasn’t some evil mastermind pulling the strings or an external person causing everything. The villain is something much more nuanced and natural.

Q: As writer-directors, how do you work together creatively? Do you have a particular process for combining your visions when developing a story like Caddo Lake ?

Celine Held: We really respect each other, and we love each other, so I think our vision often ends up being super aligned.

Logan George: There’s just a trust between us, you know, that makes it really easy to communicate and be one voice amongst the crew and cast.

As the film’s release approaches, Caddo Lake promises to offer a blend of mystery, suspense, and emotional complexity, leaving viewers eager to uncover the dark secrets lurking within its waters.

Synopsis: 
After an eight-year-old girl mysteriously vanishes, connections begin to emerge between past deaths and disappearances at Caddo Lake. The film blends suspense with emotional depth, driven by a talented cast and the mysterious backdrop of the iconic Caddo Lake.

Caddo Lake
Written and Directed by: Celine Held, Logan George
Produced by: M. Night Shyamalan, Ashwin Rajan, Kara Durrett, Josh Godfrey
Starring: Dylan O'Brien, Eliza Scanlen, Lauren Ambrose, Eric Lange, Sam Hennings
Production Companies: New Line Cinema, Blinding Edge Pictures, K Period Media
Distributed by: Max
Release Date: October 10, 2024
Running Time: 99 minutes