Hokum director Damian McCarthy reveals how he's remake his first movie today

'I just wrote so fast'

Damian McCarthy has regrets. The Irish writer-director behind indie film distributor Neon's latest hit horror movie, Hokum, still looks back at his first feature film, Caveat, with a twinge of dissatisfaction. It's not that he's unhappy with the movie, which he shot on a budget of just $250,000 and debuted at the IndieCork Film Festival in 2020. It's just that, in hindsight, he knows Caveat could have been even better.

"I'm very proud of Caveat," McCarthy tells Polygon, "but sometimes, you'd like to have another crack at these things."

Caveat follows an amnesiac drifter, Isaac (Johnny French), who takes a job looking after a mentally unwell woman, Olga (Leila Sykes), who lives alone on a small island. As part of the agreement, Isaac must wear a harness that limits his access to certain parts of the house. Meanwhile, Olga oscillates between stalking the rooms with a crossbow and a catatonic state. There's also a creepy toy rabbit with seemingly supernatural powers. Over the course of 88 minutes, Isaac uncovers the horrible truth about Olga's absent family — and his own involvement in what transpired.

The film displays many of the techniques and tropes McCarthy would go on to use in his follow-up Oddity (2024) and Hokum, like non-linear narratives, terrifying jump scares, and clever use of physical space. But looking back, there's still plenty he'd like to change about Caveat, especially when it comes to the script.

"I was worried we were going to lose the small amount of money that appeared, so I just wrote so fast," McCarthy says. "I hammered out this script that was like — I want there to be a bunny and a harness and I know I can get this location and I have access to all these things."

It was only once he finished shooting the movie that he started to realize what was missing.

"I found all this in the editing," McCarthy says. "I cut the film myself over the course of a year or so, and I realized all the potential it had, if I only could have explored those ideas a little bit more."

McCarthy notes that his biggest concern with Caveat at the time was just making sure his debut feature was good enough to get him a second attempt. In that sense, mission accomplished, and it's possible to view the movies that followed as his attempts to expand on the ideas in that original film. Still, McCarthy can't help but wonder what could have been, even as horror fans continue to gleefully discover Caveat for themselves after watching his more recent work.

"I've even heard that some people say that they still think the Caveat is the scariest film I made," he says. "I'm glad it has that audience, because there's certainly parts of it I'm very proud of, but sometimes you'd like to have another crack at these things."

McCarthy continues: "I saw an interview with David Fincher, and he said that when he goes to the premieres of his movies and the movie's finished, he goes, OK, now I know how to make the movie. I can definitely relate to that."