Caveat, or, Odd Jobs

Caveat opens with a young woman walking barefoot through an extremely run-down, dark house. It’s unclear whether we’re seeing the aftermath of something horrible, or if it’s the beginning of something horrible, but we’re so immediately plunged into sinister and suspenseful atmosphere that there’s no question that horror is involved. She’s holding a grotesque, grizzled old bunny doll/toy by the ears, and she carries it out in front of her like a totem or a shield. Periodically and spontaneously, the bunny beats a short rhythm on its toy drum as if to guide her. It takes her past a series of foreboding doors and creepy paintings, eventually leading into the basement, and to the ominous crawlspace on a far wall, which has been sealed up. The bunny gives another tap on its drum. She finds a drywall saw and gets to work. I mention the cold open because I’m convinced that it’s somehow key to what makes this movie work at all, because I’m still struggling to figure out why it works at all.…