The Caretaker, 2026.
Directed by Luke Tedder
Starring Ben Probert, Mackenzie Larsen, Scott Hume, PG Pearson, Lauren Shotton, Elisabeth May
SYNOPSIS:
Eddie, a mute, takes a caretaking job at Lockbridge Academy to avoid homelessneess. He forms a close bond with cleaner Marie, while uncovering dark secrets about the family that run the school.
There is a real sense of nightmarish style about this gothic mystery. Director Luke Tedder’s story of recently bereaved mute Eddie going to work at an academy as a caretaker, after losing an abusive mother and being threatened with homelessness, is a grim enough beginning, but it is handled sensitively and with some humour, and the viewer is really invested in Eddie’s journey.
This is also thanks to Ben Probert’s excellent performance as Eddie, conveying the new worker’s turbulent inner world with intense looks of anguish or shy smiles as he discovers new experiences. And these new experiences include finding a human connection and blossoming romance with Marie (Mackenzie Larsen), someone else who is far from home and feeling a certain amount of isolation in the world at large.
Eddie and Marie soon find themselves embroiled in various hard-to-discern mysteries carried on the breeze at the windswept academy, not least what happened to the last caretaker, shown in a creepy intro that sets up a certain foreboding about what might not turn out to be a dream job for Eddie.
Aside from the central plot involving the dastardly Aberdeen family, who run the show, including the rifle-toting spoilt Charles Aberdeen the 3rd (Scott Hume) his puppet master father Charles the 2nd (PG Peardon) and the intensely disturbed sister, daughter and art teacher Lisa Aberdeen (Lauren Shotton) which is well paced and delivers psychological horror as past secrets are uncovered and conflicting personalities turn up the drama settings bit by bit, I really appreciated the extra details in this intriguing film.
For example, the hallucinogenic sequences of paranoia played via an old television set as Eddie recalls past home discomforts with mother, not so dearest (a fantastic show of sick-bed terror from Elizabeth May), really show off a visual flair and dreamlike weirdness. There is some dark humour to go along with the unfolding horror, too, especially when Eddie turns up to his interview with the hilariously patronising job coach who scores him his destined place at Lockwood.
But there is also great pacing involved in the story, which manages to speed up to the terrifying bursts of anger and then slow to a poetic pastoral ode when Eddie and Marie go on Eddie’s first ever date to a picnic on the coastal cliffs. Below them, the unruly waves give a clue to the unfolding knowledge that, despite a charming meeting of two good souls above, all is unlikely to stay restful for too long
The Caretaker is a well-executed walk down a weird path to take in obsession, greed, and the mistreatment of others for reasons that they cannot possibly help. It leaves a bold impression that refuses to budge, and instead calls out in alarm at unexpected moments. Part of this is the strong visual sense that is possibly helped by having a leading character who does not speak. Instead, like Eddie, the film calls for a more composed look at the details, the contrasts and the interlinking patterns that bring home (at least part of) the full picture.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Robert W. Monk
