Caddo Lake’s Family Tree Explained

Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Caddo Lake.The Lang family tree in Caddo Lake is almost as confusing as the movie’s timeline, but it’s also absolutely imperative to the thriller’s main twist. As the ending of Caddo Lake made clear, the entire film was about a single family and the journeys of several of its members through time. Unfortunately, the complicated timeline of Caddo Lake makes it hard to determine which characters are connected by blood, and how they all relate to each other. Those family relations are a huge part of Caddo Lake, though, and a reason it secured a score of 80% on Rotten Tomatoes.

There are several main characters in Caddo Lake, and almost all of them are connected by blood or love. That can make it somewhat difficult to keep track of how everyone is related, so to explain all the links, the family tree will be explained as it relates to Ellie Lang (Eliza Scanlen). Ellie is one of the two main protagonists of Caddo Lake, and she also serves as the youngest generation, which should help keep the family tree clear. Still, the Lang family tree is rather complicated, and the time travel of Caddo Lake makes it less than intuitive.

Celeste Is Cee, & Both Are Ellie’s Mother

Celeste/Cee Got Pregnant After Reuniting With Paris, & Ellie Is The Child

When Ellie emerged in 2005, she found out that her mother, Celeste (Lauren Ambrose), and Paris’ partner, Cee (Dianna Hopper), were the same person, just at different ages. Ellie discovered that fact after being attacked by Cee in a grocery store parking lot, a story Celeste had already told her about. Celeste is Ellie’s biological mother, and Ellie’s trip to 2005 proved that Cee was the same person as Celeste, making both versions of the character Ellie’s mother. Celeste/Cee had no biological relation to Anna, as Anna was born before she met Daniel (Eric Lange), but since she was living with Daniel, Celeste/Cee was Anna’s step-mother.

Paris Lang Is Ellie’s Father

Ellie Is Paris & Celeste/Cee’s Daughter

Along with Ellie, Paris Lang (Dylan O’Brien) is the second protagonist of Caddo Lake, and he’s also right at the center of the Lang family tree. During her trip to 2005, Ellie discovers that Paris is her biological father. Paris and Cee (who is also Celeste) had reconnected back in 2003, just before Paris discovered the portals in Lake Caddo and disappeared. During their reunion, Paris got Cee pregnant, and she eventually gave birth to Ellie. Paris’ relationship with Ellie is rather straightforward, but the rest of his connection to the Lang family tree gets more muddled.

Anna Is Ellie’s Grandmother & Step-Sister

Anna Was Stranded In 1952, Making Her Old Enough To Be Paris’ Mother

The main conflict of Caddo Lake comes when Anna (Caroline Falk) disappears in 2022. As the film explained, Anna actually disappeared through time, and ended up emerging in 1952. She was injured when she came out of the portal, and when Paris found her, he brought her to safety. Anna, however, didn’t know how to travel through time, so she was stranded in 1952. That meant that Anna lived out the rest of her life 70 years before she disappeared, and it also meant that she could effectively become the foundation of the Lang family tree.

Since she essentially restarted her life in 1952, Anna ended up living normally. She eventually married Ben Lang, Paris’ father, and gave birth to Paris, making Anna his mother. Since Paris was Ellie’s father, and Anna was Paris’ mother, Anna was Ellie’s grandmother. However, given the fact that Daniel (Eric Lange) was Anna’s biological father, and Daniel was also Ellie’s step-father, Anna is also Ellie’s step-sister. To summarize, Anna was Ben’s wife, Paris’ mother, and Ellie’s grandmother, but she was also Celeste’s step-daughter and Ellie’s step-sister because of Anna’s biological father, Daniel.

Ben Lang Is Ellie’s Grandfather

As Paris’ Father, Ben Has A Direct Link To Ellie

Ben Lang (Sam Hennings) is, rather straightforwardly, Paris’ father. He married Anna at some point, and they had a single child, Paris. Since Paris ended up being Ellie’s biological father, that makes Ben Ellie’s grandfather on her father’s side. Ben’s place in the Lang family tree is fairly clear, but he, too, has a bit of a complicated side as well. Since he married Anna, Ben Lang is technically Ellie’s step-brother-in-law, as well as her grandfather, even though he’s at least fifty years older than her.

Daniel Is Ellie’s Great-Grandfather & Step-Father

Daniel Is Anna’s Father, Paris’ Grandfather, & Celeste’s New Partner

The final piece of the Lang family tree puzzle is Daniel. At the start of Caddo Lake, Daniel was simply Ellie’s step-father, as he was in a relationship with Celeste. However, as he was Anna’s biological father, and Anna eventually became Paris’ mother, Daniel was also Ellie’s great-grandfather on her father’s side. Anna’s travels through time also effectively made Daniel Paris’ grandfather on his mother’s side and Ben’s father-in-law. Technically, after Paris disappeared, Cee/Celeste began a relationship with Paris’ grandfather, though she had no way of knowing how Daniel was related to Paris.

The best way to conceptualize the Lang family tree is through two main paths. The first path is ordered by the line of succession. Daniel and an unknown mother gave birth to Anna. Then, Anna and Ben gave birth to Paris, and Paris and Celeste/Cee gave birth to Ellie. The second path is ordered by chronology. Ben has the earliest birth date, as he never time traveled. Paris, Celeste/Cee, and Daniel were born at about the same time. Ellie was born next, around 2002, and Anna was born latest, in the 2010s, though her time travel put her at the start of the tree instead of the end.

The main source of confusion is Anna, who was paradoxically born in the 2010s but lived from 1952 to 1999. The best way to explain how her birth works is by seeing everyone’s journey through the time portals as a loop that happens no matter what. Regardless of what Paris or Ellie do in their time travels, Anna travels back in time to 1952 to effectively start the Lang family tree. Caddo Lake takes a very novel approach to time travel that requires some mental gymnastics, but it does eventually make sense in the end.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes

Caddo Lake follows a chilling mystery centered around a young girl’s disappearance in a small Texas town. As the community grapples with the unsettling events, hidden secrets and tensions unfold. Directed by nan, this suspenseful narrative explores themes of fear and the unknown surrounding Caddo Lake.

Director

Logan George , Celine Held

Writers

Logan George , Celine Held

Cast

Dylan O’Brien , Eliza Scanlen , Caroline Falk , Lauren Ambrose , Sam Hennings , Diana Hopper , Eric Lange , Lance E. Nichols , Nina Leon , David Maldonado , Kim Baptiste , Jules Hilillo Fernandez

Character(s)

Paris , Ellie , Anna , Celeste , Ben , Cee , Daniel , Doctor Mitchell , Doctor Martha , Sheriff Mark Tanner , Church Lady Bev , Claire

Runtime

104 Minutes

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