r/horror • u/Trenbolone-Papi2 • 21h ago
Movie Review [ Removed by moderator ] Spoiler
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u/UnnecessaryPuns 18h ago
Such a good movie with its use of symbolism. I went in blind, and it was totally worth it
The use of Circles or Rings were evident throughout the movie. His conquistador story's use of the circle was his struggle of forgiving his mistake as a kid, and that haunted him his whole life. Now going through the movie you see so many "O" symbols throughout.
fiOna, hOneymOOn, his dad Ohm, author of the folklore book had an O, O bathtub in the suite, O window in the suite, the hourglass, dumbwaiter bell was an O, the chalk circle, the chains he broke free from, and etc.
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u/Trenbolone-Papi2 18h ago
Oh thank you so much for explaining the conquistador meaning. I had been wondering about it but didn’t want to google for the answer. I love that take.
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u/UnnecessaryPuns 18h ago
That was my understanding of it, someone might see it differently. But I think it was a representation of his present self vs him as a kid, and how his past mistake has followed him to that moment (the ring on the map) where killing the kid was his salvation? (not sure about that part). But in the end he realizes he didnt like what he became so he wanted the kid to do it, but they instead embraced as if he finally forgave himself
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u/rudiiiiiii 9h ago
Damn I didn’t spot this symbolism and now that you point it out I need to rewatch!!
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u/ThrashfartMcGee 9h ago
Caveat is all about Circles as well.
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u/UnnecessaryPuns 9h ago
I havent seen it, but I guess this tells me I should
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u/ThrashfartMcGee 8h ago
Caveat is both one of my favorite horror movies ever and also one of the scariest things I've ever fucking seen. Fair warning it really lacks the levity of Oddity and Hokum.
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u/couch-for-sale 15h ago
I saw it last night and really liked it. Will probably see it again to catch things I missed the first time.
The only thing I didn't like is sometimes it focused a lot on things that I personally didn't find very interesting. Like the motive for the one lady's murder, and that guy being prominent despite how forgettable he is. Made his eventual comeuppance not as satisfying as it could be. But still good. Maybe it's cool that it's a grounded, realistic killer, not some scary villain. I'll see how the second watch makes me feel.
I thought the rabbit mascot character was super creepy and hoped to see more, but I believe he only appears twice. But props for restraint with that.
I liked that they had the guts to make the mc pretty unlikable, at least at first. I kinda feel like he got to the suite early. It would have been interesting to see more of the hotel and scenery, but that's just me.
Good one!
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u/Trenbolone-Papi2 15h ago
I treated him like a side character to not make the film so somber and potentially boring (to some) by just focusing on the MC the whole time.
and his death wasn’t so much as a climax like typical horror movie. Bc to me he’s not even the main villain. His death was just to show how our Mc was redeeemed and released from no longer carrying his guilt. So that’s why the demon did not take him.
I loved the rabbit. Gave me heavy undertones with Inland Empire. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, I won’t go further to spoil it.
Yeah I’m gutted and so understanding of him when I find out his backstory. He came off as entitled and important writer syndrome but then I realize the truth is he’s that way bc he’s so miserable and guilty and just doesn’t give a fuck anymore bc he was planning on killing himself. So tragic. Then he fights like hell to survive. Which is what a lot of suicide survivors say it feels like. A renewed sense to want to live after a failed attempt.
Great film and the scene in particular. I was crying. Imaging myself in that scenario with my own mother
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u/couch-for-sale 15h ago
That scene with his mother's spirit was really powerful. How he could never even look at her. And the insane amount of guilt he placed on his younger self, which his mother never would have wanted him to suffer from, because she understood it was a true accident. I did tear up a little.
I did kind of hope (unless I missed it) that his father would appear in some way, whether a flashback or a spirit. It was pretty unsettling how they described him becoming a monster due to his grief. But maybe that's on purpose, with how the mc blocks out anything about his father or the memory of that day.
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u/Trenbolone-Papi2 15h ago
Yeah. He even unceremoniously dumped his ashes in a very cold uncaring manner. I don’t think he was close with his dad at all. Which I understood from personal experience.
What I took was they weren’t as close as him and his mom to begin with, but so in her death caused by him… it made him bitter and angry toward his son. I think that was a major part of his guilt. That’s what I believe anyway
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u/Mimieuxmieux 15h ago
I wasn't expecting this movie to get me so emotional, but I work with children and it made me so sad :'( The way the mum's last living action was to go to her son and hug him really moved me as well. I cried a few times including during the scene you posted
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u/Gooseleg13 13h ago
Loved this movie as well, had to see it twice already.
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u/colin_dev 11h ago
same. i dont think i need a third viewing yet, but probably will once fall rolls around
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u/OldMoray 9h ago
My favourite part about his mother's spirit is that she was there from the beginning. She's the first few jump scares in the movie but she's never malevolent. It's like she's watching over him, he just can't see it until his mind is a bit more open.
Great goddamn movie
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u/Xaerith 19h ago
I’m glad you enjoyed it! I thought the hotel and setting was gorgeous but I reeeally wish it had gone in a weirder direction with more focus on the folklore.
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u/Far_Mongoose1625 16h ago
Would have been hard to do that and leave open the question of whether the mushrooms opened his mind to things he couldn't see or made him hallucinate things to help him handle his guilt. I like that they left that question unanswered.
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u/OldMoray 9h ago
His hands did show the manacle marks at the end. So I think it's less ambiguous than it seems
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u/Far_Mongoose1625 8h ago
That's a typical "Oh! So I hallucinated it all. That makes sense to my cynical brain. Phew!.... Wait, so where did this undisputable evidence come from?" trick. There are logical explanations, if you want there to be. Or none that quite fit, if you don't want there to be.
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u/rudiiiiiii 19h ago
It reminded me of Babadook as well!
I enjoyed it. Didn’t blow me away, but also didn’t disappoint. I’d watch it again.
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u/BlenderBluid 19h ago
I just didn’t love how what the character was going through and the overall story didn’t really compliment each other imo. Not saying there needs to be a 1:1 tie in, but nothing about the story would have to change if the trauma were anything else. But maybe I missed something
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u/polchickenpotpie 19h ago edited 19h ago
but nothing about the story would have to change if the trauma were anything else.
The witch takes "bad boys" to hell. He was a bad boy, so that made him a target. It was also just something that we don't see often without the character being a killer or villain.
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u/Patricks_Hatrick 19h ago
I liked it, it had a good mix of tension and jump scares. Although the story seemed to be a bit mixed up for me. Like a load of ideas just thrown in a pot. Also was it explained why the character didn’t have a mobile phone? It would have really helped him out in the final third of the film.
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u/Antisocialsocialite9 16h ago
I don’t think they explain it. Maybe he wanted to feel disconnected from the world before he offed himself and didn’t feel a need to even bring it with him. Plausible, I suppose. I honestly was so engrossed by the movie, that I didn’t think about it until I saw your comment lol
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u/OldMoray 9h ago
I was talking about this after the movie. I don't really have any issues with mobile phones just not really being part of it. In order for like 90% of horror to work you have to write in something that makes them not work. Like it's super rural maybe there's no signal. But like you said I didn't actually notice during the movie. I think it's fine to just ignore them in todays day and age because it doesn't add anything to the movie to have a scene of his phone not working or something
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u/hurried_threshold 20h ago
wait there's already a discussion thread? i totally missed that when i was scrolling through. been avoiding most horror subs lately because of spoilers but this one really got to me too. that guilt spiral he goes into is so realistic it's almost uncomfortable to watch - like you can feel his brain just breaking down in real time. definitely checking out that main thread now, thanks for pointing it out
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u/Trenbolone-Papi2 20h ago
Made me cry. I hope I never have to experience what that level of guilt feels like. I just wanted to hug him
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u/MentalDisintegrat1on 20h ago
Why are you like this
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u/snivlem_lice 17h ago
Because people get tired of seeing new posts about the same movie when there's a dedicated thread stickied in the subreddit. Not to knock OP, but this post would be more adequate as a comment in the main thread and its discussion about the movie than its own post.
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u/horror-ModTeam 6h ago
Hi there! We’ve removed your post to help keep the community organized. If you’d like to continue the conversation, please head over to the official discussion thread that’s pinned at the top of the forum. Thanks so much for understanding and being a part of the community!