THE CARETAKERS (2025) Review
Directed by Shugo Praico
Firstly, The Caretakers is not your typical horror movie. It doesn’t just give you the typical jump scares or the uncomfortable scenes, but when it does, you’ll definitely know because the whole film has this eerie atmosphere where you feel like something scary is about to happen anytime.
But what will make you invested with The Caretakers is its story. Putting the horror genre aside, the film tackles the sacrifices single mothers go through, the lengths they would go to just to provide, to protect and to be with their children. And how Iza Calzado and Dimples Romana portrayed those mother roles? There’s sincerity through the layers of struggles and the desire of a mother the audience can feel. But the highlight of their acting, of course, is when the two collide. First three quarters of the film builds the tension between the two and the final quarter brings the two clashing after the big reveal.
How the film incorporates the setting: the house, nature and its elements through horror is ingenious. And it’s not in a way you would expect especially at first. There’s misdirection in a way, but the film ends going all the way.
The film might take a while to be fully realized, and it could have used more horror and tension build up especially with its already eerie atmosphere. While it wanted to be more eccentric, the film chooses to be more accessible for casual viewers.
You go in the cinema for the horror but you leave with the impact of what these mothers can do, good or bad, just for their children.
3 OUT OF 5 STARS
‘The Caretakers’ is now showing in cinemas nationwide from Regal Entertainment, Inc. and REIN Entertainment. Rated R-13 by the MTRCB.