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.
21 Reviews
Frustrating
drramos423 June 2020
I've read many reviews of this movie. A lot of people hated it and didn't get it. Others are defending it, saying that viewers weren't using their imagination to get it. If wanted to use my imagination, then I would have read a book. Sorry, I don't enjoy movies that don't have a resolution.
Tea With The Blairs!
doorsscorpywag30 March 2018
Set in 1972 Andrew & Julie are a couple of would be investigative journalists who are starting to work on an expose of a new army base on the nearby moor.
'Must be nukes' they tell their editor.
Then a couple of strange Jehovah's Witnesses with a problem with postmen hove into view. They claim they are from the Moor and have some questions so the pair invite them in for tea thinking they are officials of some kind.
The strange couple introduce themselves as Mr & Mrs Blair. Everybody sits down. The Blair's rather oddly and tea is served. Mrs Blair complains it is hot. Andrew points out Mrs Blair's shoelace is undone. Mr Blair says she will get around to it shortly.
Then the questions begin and are strange at first and get stranger as they progress. When Andrew gets annoyed Mrs Blair suddenly screams maniacally and attacks him. Mr Blair explains 'she has killed and you would not be the first today'. The interview goes downhill from there.
Mr Blair seems to want something they have but they don't know what it is.
April Pearson & Cian Barry, who I am not familiar with, play the Blair's really well and give a new insight into creepy. Especially April who steals the show. It's as if we are in Strangers territory but its even weirder than that.
It's a pretty well done mostly indoor mystery drama with some good acting from the 4 leads.
What's it about? Check it out as it is worth an hour and a half of your time. It's not a horror as such but is well acted and a decent story. I gave it 5 but added a 1+ as it was an attempt to do something new with a tired genre. I guess with a bigger budget it could have been something a bit special.
On the downside there is one glaring omission that will have you spitting feathers. But decent effort all the same.
Then a couple of strange Jehovah's Witnesses with a problem with postmen hove into view. They claim they are from the Moor and have some questions so the pair invite them in for tea thinking they are officials of some kind.
The strange couple introduce themselves as Mr & Mrs Blair. Everybody sits down. The Blair's rather oddly and tea is served. Mrs Blair complains it is hot. Andrew points out Mrs Blair's shoelace is undone. Mr Blair says she will get around to it shortly.
Then the questions begin and are strange at first and get stranger as they progress. When Andrew gets annoyed Mrs Blair suddenly screams maniacally and attacks him. Mr Blair explains 'she has killed and you would not be the first today'. The interview goes downhill from there.
Mr Blair seems to want something they have but they don't know what it is.
April Pearson & Cian Barry, who I am not familiar with, play the Blair's really well and give a new insight into creepy. Especially April who steals the show. It's as if we are in Strangers territory but its even weirder than that.
It's a pretty well done mostly indoor mystery drama with some good acting from the 4 leads.
What's it about? Check it out as it is worth an hour and a half of your time. It's not a horror as such but is well acted and a decent story. I gave it 5 but added a 1+ as it was an attempt to do something new with a tired genre. I guess with a bigger budget it could have been something a bit special.
On the downside there is one glaring omission that will have you spitting feathers. But decent effort all the same.
Grossly Underrated
acarltoncooke11 December 2018
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.
Creep Factor 10+
joeldodd22 April 2018
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.
Reasonable concept poorly executed.
mjsreg6 April 2018
There seem to be a lot of younger 'producers' and 'directors' who seem to fail because of a fundamental lack of awareness of the final goal - to produce a good film that engages the audience and tells an interesting story.
This film seems like the people who made it forgot to take their vision out of their heads (if it were there in the first place) and put it on film for the audience to see.
I got the impression that this was a poor attempt to replicate a '70s look' - like classic thrillers and horrors of the era. It doesn't work. It may have worked if more thought had gone into it and the story was set in the present day with a 70s style. That would have been interesting.
Then there is the story. The end is obvious from the beginning, it is just a matter of how the story is going to get there. Not much mystery and certainly no horror.
The cast put effort into their performances, which were generally good, but have been woefully let down by poor production and direction.
This film seems like the people who made it forgot to take their vision out of their heads (if it were there in the first place) and put it on film for the audience to see.
I got the impression that this was a poor attempt to replicate a '70s look' - like classic thrillers and horrors of the era. It doesn't work. It may have worked if more thought had gone into it and the story was set in the present day with a 70s style. That would have been interesting.
Then there is the story. The end is obvious from the beginning, it is just a matter of how the story is going to get there. Not much mystery and certainly no horror.
The cast put effort into their performances, which were generally good, but have been woefully let down by poor production and direction.
Who thinks of movies like this. SMH
Hotepsekhemwy20 February 2019
This movie gave me a headache. Trying to understand the nonsense baby language is driving me crazy. The purpose of the woman character is uncertain. The husband character is weak. The wife seems to have some sense of urgency to understand the new visitors.
Self Pretention At It's Best
TRussellMorris15 April 2021
I'm all for imagination, and a bit of ambiguity, I love movies that range over the scale of ambiguity within acceptable "egghead cinema buff" limits. We can be tedious in our superiority complex I know. I've had a lot of fun digesting the 1000's of movies over a lifetime required to gain that title AND the patience and tolerance for that range of cinema orphans many of us hold dear in our collections. Be it B-Movie or Low Budget tolerance and being able to see the treasure in the cheaper box, or be it the high toned ambiguity of movies that range the gambit of Agnes Of God or Under The Skin, or such other movies where not everything is explained to a finite conclusion BUT, there is a limit, I don't mind being asked to interpret that surrealistic painting for my own vision of what it is, and accepting the different view of another viewer, but when both of us are standing before a canvas with 2 red dots spaced 8 inches apart and a yellow dot in the left corner and asked to tell the artist what they see....well. I could do that at home and you've brought nothing worth my time to this conversation if you know what I mean.
This movie is that canvas, a beautiful atmospheric canvas, with some red dot characters and a premise that falls short of providing enough information to interpret. There's a word that comes to mind, PRETENTIOUS, near insultingly so. If I could say one thing to the director's face, it would be, you think WAY too much of yourself and what you THINK is a clever display of your "high brow" intellect, is actually but an expose of your own shortcomings. You can come up with a premise, intriguing and even capable of holding one's attention, but lack the COMPLETE vision and ability to follow through.
This movie, unlike the MANY who play with ambiguity and intrigue, that satisfy and delight while still leaving things open to interpretation, this is a real big gun with the wrong ammo, and the misfire is a big as said gun. The ART of those kinds of films is their ability to give you enough puzzle pieces to form a picture, even if those pieces are shaped in a way that different viewers can put together different pictures in the end. Let use Agnes Of God as a prime example, was it a virgin conception?, WAS it God, Was it Stigmata, was it a field hand, what was that song she sang at the end? MY answer may be different than yours BUT the pieces of that mystery are ALL there for ALL of those answers to be possibly correct and legit explained as such. I cannot tell you anything but PURE conjecture about this movie though, there is NOTHING to back up what I just randomly decide, and put forth as "the answers". It honestly is the only movie I've ever seen out of 1000s that I legit can say, "Well, I will just say it was this" but I have ZERO legit points in the film to back that up aside from just my own conjecture that this is what this thing meant. It was beyond disappointing considering the acting, cinematography, atmosphere, and premise.. I don't think I've ever seen such a waste of all those things to end with nothing but 2 hours of wasted time (90 minutes to watch it, and 30 minutes to sit and wonder why in the world they would embarrass themselves intentionally that way in their own self-delusion that they were being high brow and "Artsy". It just really made them (Director, screenwriter, producer) look silly. Watch this ONLY if you wish to see (For some reason) the perfect way to both ruin a potential masterpiece and embarrass yourself with misguided pretention at the same time.
This movie is that canvas, a beautiful atmospheric canvas, with some red dot characters and a premise that falls short of providing enough information to interpret. There's a word that comes to mind, PRETENTIOUS, near insultingly so. If I could say one thing to the director's face, it would be, you think WAY too much of yourself and what you THINK is a clever display of your "high brow" intellect, is actually but an expose of your own shortcomings. You can come up with a premise, intriguing and even capable of holding one's attention, but lack the COMPLETE vision and ability to follow through.
This movie, unlike the MANY who play with ambiguity and intrigue, that satisfy and delight while still leaving things open to interpretation, this is a real big gun with the wrong ammo, and the misfire is a big as said gun. The ART of those kinds of films is their ability to give you enough puzzle pieces to form a picture, even if those pieces are shaped in a way that different viewers can put together different pictures in the end. Let use Agnes Of God as a prime example, was it a virgin conception?, WAS it God, Was it Stigmata, was it a field hand, what was that song she sang at the end? MY answer may be different than yours BUT the pieces of that mystery are ALL there for ALL of those answers to be possibly correct and legit explained as such. I cannot tell you anything but PURE conjecture about this movie though, there is NOTHING to back up what I just randomly decide, and put forth as "the answers". It honestly is the only movie I've ever seen out of 1000s that I legit can say, "Well, I will just say it was this" but I have ZERO legit points in the film to back that up aside from just my own conjecture that this is what this thing meant. It was beyond disappointing considering the acting, cinematography, atmosphere, and premise.. I don't think I've ever seen such a waste of all those things to end with nothing but 2 hours of wasted time (90 minutes to watch it, and 30 minutes to sit and wonder why in the world they would embarrass themselves intentionally that way in their own self-delusion that they were being high brow and "Artsy". It just really made them (Director, screenwriter, producer) look silly. Watch this ONLY if you wish to see (For some reason) the perfect way to both ruin a potential masterpiece and embarrass yourself with misguided pretention at the same time.
What a letdown
casey-4271221 March 2020
Slow AF
davidhartley923 December 2018
I Kinda Liked It...
wandernn1-81-6832747 February 2021
Really don't bother
andyaj3114 September 2018
Not many things would be worse than the alien dude and his Melania Trump like wife coming to your house. I really felt like cutting my arm off and hitting myself repeatedly with the soggy end until I was unconscious
I just wish that I could get the last 90 minutes back so I could see a good film.
I just wish that I could get the last 90 minutes back so I could see a good film.
For those who don't want everything spelled out
interplanetaryspy-163-44318916 October 2018
This movie is getting a lot of flack for what seems to be viewer laziness. You will not find any voiceover guiding you through the story, or a character showing up at the door in the final minutes to sort everything out. This movie requires the viewer to put the pieces together, and the pieces are definitely there. It is not hard to follow if you're listening, and having one of the "visitors" explain themselves in detail would have been a major letdown, since they make it clear repeatedly that the scope of their knowledge is limited. This is a disturbing film that trusts that the viewer is capable of sorting things out on their own. Much like Under The Skin or Hereditary, there is some ambiguity and I wish more films would require viewer intelligence as part of the experience.
Don't Get Caught By This Misleading Drab Nothingness!
silicontourist11 April 2021
The two parents open the film and their acting is good but after that, the film just fails in every department!
You have no idea why the home owners let in two clearly odd acting strangers, who blatantly appeared to have very definite mental health issues...FAIL!
You have no idea as to why its billed as a horror and sci-fi film; because it most certainly is not in either of those two categories...FAIL You have no idea who, or what, the protagonists are or want etc...FAIL!
You have no idea why the army is set up in a field somewhere...FAIL!
You have no idea if the Mr and Mrs Blair couple are escaped lunatics...FAIL!
You have no idea why you are having to try and solve a home invasion event that is trying to be a scary psychological thriller; which it is certainly not...FAIL!
You have no idea, when you have reached the end, as to why there is no middle or all is revealed ending and, no explanation for anything you just watched...FAIL!
You only know who the baby, the son and the parents (2 journalists ) are.
You only know that you just wasted 1h:25m:24s of your life and you are feeling angry/irate/infuriated. I can only truly describe this digital drudge in the way of the fairy tale story (see below) that isn't... Once upon a time...and they all lived happily ever after".
Nothing telling you in what time and who were those who lived happily?
You have no idea why the home owners let in two clearly odd acting strangers, who blatantly appeared to have very definite mental health issues...FAIL!
You have no idea as to why its billed as a horror and sci-fi film; because it most certainly is not in either of those two categories...FAIL You have no idea who, or what, the protagonists are or want etc...FAIL!
You have no idea why the army is set up in a field somewhere...FAIL!
You have no idea if the Mr and Mrs Blair couple are escaped lunatics...FAIL!
You have no idea why you are having to try and solve a home invasion event that is trying to be a scary psychological thriller; which it is certainly not...FAIL!
You have no idea, when you have reached the end, as to why there is no middle or all is revealed ending and, no explanation for anything you just watched...FAIL!
You only know who the baby, the son and the parents (2 journalists ) are.
You only know that you just wasted 1h:25m:24s of your life and you are feeling angry/irate/infuriated. I can only truly describe this digital drudge in the way of the fairy tale story (see below) that isn't... Once upon a time...and they all lived happily ever after".
Nothing telling you in what time and who were those who lived happily?
This film is as stiff as the characters (& they're playing emotionless on purpose)
sian_b_badger14 June 2018
Best quote in the film that I have heard in a while...
Dad: "My son loves to draw animals. He is shit at geography but he loves to draw!"
- thanks Dad. Nothing like kicking your own child when they're down & being held hostage by a weird couple. Nice to see some parents still manage to get digs in when they're under a lot of pressure.
Don't waste your time
druoswald29 January 2022
So dissapointing...
I really feel sorry for the cast of this fail. They had to work so hard to invent characters for a story that doesn't exist. Seriously, this is a story a fourth grader might write. If you were to get all of the important facts of the story written down to tell to someone else you would have a 500-word fail. It wasn't a story or a tale, it was absolute nonsense.
I really feel sorry for the cast of this fail. They had to work so hard to invent characters for a story that doesn't exist. Seriously, this is a story a fourth grader might write. If you were to get all of the important facts of the story written down to tell to someone else you would have a 500-word fail. It wasn't a story or a tale, it was absolute nonsense.
Interesting
jhr201219 July 2020
The ending made my rating go lower
jordondave-280855 April 2023
(2017) Caught
SCIENCE-FICTION PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR
Journalistic couple of Jule (Mickey Sumner) and Andrew (Ruben Crow), inviting odd couple of Mr (Cian Barry) and Mrs. (April Pearson) Blair into their isolated cottage home, assuming they can garner a story involving a nuc site operated nearby, which is when they regretted that move. And once inside, Mr and Mrs Blair permit the owners from leaving- keeping them hostage, in which they are clearly not human as they consist to have incredible abilities.
Again, what I did not like about this movie is the end that raises more questions than I got answers.
Journalistic couple of Jule (Mickey Sumner) and Andrew (Ruben Crow), inviting odd couple of Mr (Cian Barry) and Mrs. (April Pearson) Blair into their isolated cottage home, assuming they can garner a story involving a nuc site operated nearby, which is when they regretted that move. And once inside, Mr and Mrs Blair permit the owners from leaving- keeping them hostage, in which they are clearly not human as they consist to have incredible abilities.
Again, what I did not like about this movie is the end that raises more questions than I got answers.
Brilliant, Slow-burn, British sci-fi/horror.
cyberiad97 March 2020
For the unfortunate negative reviews, I can only say this film is for people who prefer a more cerebral, slow-paced movie that takes its time to play out rather than fast edits and having the plot spelled out for you. In the final analysis, what happened is entirely up to you.
"Caught" is a brilliant, slow-burn British film for those who prefer a little mystery rather than having everything wrapped up in a neat, little bow and the plot overexplained.
It's a sci-fi/horror film about a family who is visited by a couple who are nothing short of terrifyingly strange and inhuman in their speech and actions creating a maniacal ambience from which they cannot escape.
Taking place in the 70s, the husband is a photographer who had taken pictures of what he believed to be a new army base set up around the moors by which he lives. He and his wife are visited by a couple called Mr. and Mrs. Blair whose intent is to interrogate them at any cost, but something is quite different about them.
Over time the husband figures out what they really came for, but it may just be too late.
The true meaning behind CAUGHT
uuez1 April 2018
Mr. and Mrs. Blair are the reflection of humanity in our society today. People know you know what they want even if they themselves do not. It is a metaphor for the complete and utter stupidity it is to be human with no meaning or purpose yet terrified of one of that is nothing at all.
If all this weren't bad enough being so utterly pointless and worthless waste of everybody's time, we can all be grateful this atrocious piece of garbage wasn't CAUGHT on film that would be a travesty.
Just like life the movie just fades to black leaving the viewer tortured just like the family in the movie. You leave the movie without any more clarity than watching the trailer. Note to viewer do not waste your time on this. Note to the creator of this: it doesn't get any worse than this and you should all suffer the fate of the family for this ever being CAUGHT.
Sincerely, I wouldn't wanna be CAUGHT watching this film
If all this weren't bad enough being so utterly pointless and worthless waste of everybody's time, we can all be grateful this atrocious piece of garbage wasn't CAUGHT on film that would be a travesty.
Just like life the movie just fades to black leaving the viewer tortured just like the family in the movie. You leave the movie without any more clarity than watching the trailer. Note to viewer do not waste your time on this. Note to the creator of this: it doesn't get any worse than this and you should all suffer the fate of the family for this ever being CAUGHT.
Sincerely, I wouldn't wanna be CAUGHT watching this film
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