“Caity”

“Caity” is a tender and thoughtful coming-of-age story that uses the backdrop of a family run haunted house to explore the much deeper teenage fears of addiction, loneliness, vulnerability, and the burden of growing up too fast.

Every Halloween season, 16 year old Caity (Chiara Aurelia) helps run her family’s beloved haunted attraction alongside her father Paul (Morgan Spector), who she adores. But as a new season begins, Paul’s fragile sobriety starts to crack. This forces Caity to shoulder even more responsibility while navigating a new crush named Hannah (Jordan Hull) and the arrival of two new employees at the haunt. What follows is an honest and emotionally grounded look at a teenager struggling to keep everything (and everyone) together.

The film feels very authentic. Writer and director Lindsay Calleran tackles difficult subjects like parental addiction and emotional codependency without turning the film into an exhausting experience. The script feels lived-in and real, capturing the complicated love between a child and a parent who is actively spiraling. The story constantly asks how much a teenager should sacrifice to protect someone they love, and whether unconditional love has limits.

The haunted house setting is more than just a clever backdrop. The family’s struggling low budget attraction becomes a fitting metaphor for the ghosts everyone carries with them. The film explores the masks people wear to survive, whether that’s pretending everything is fine, hiding addiction, or concealing feelings out of fear of rejection. Caity’s growing relationship with Hannah adds another layer to the story’s examination of vulnerability and the terror of letting someone see who you really are.

Aurelia is terrific here. She brings a maturity and emotional depth to her character that never feels forced, making every difficult decision and heartbreaking compromise believable. Spector is equally impressive as a father whose charm and love are constantly battling his addiction, while Zach Cherry provides a welcome warmth as one of Paul’s sober friends.

In her storytelling, Calleran steers away from conventional filmmaking choices. She uses split screens, layered close-ups, and fractured framing to place the audience directly inside Caity’s anxiety and emotional turmoil. Combined with the gorgeous upstate New York setting, the result is a film that feels distinctive without drawing attention away from its characters.

“Caity” captures adolescent isolation with remarkable honesty. With strong performances, inventive visual storytelling, and a script that handles tough themes with grace and authenticity, this is a moving and surprisingly hopeful film about the people we love, the ghosts we inherit, and the courage it takes to finally stop hiding behind the mask.

By: Louisa Moore