Oddity is a 2024 Irish horror film directed by Damian McCarthy, and the cast includes Gwilym Lee, Carolyn Bracken, Tadhg Murphy, Caroline Menton and Steve Wall.
When the movie begins, we see Dani, alone in an isolated house after dark and when a stranger with a glass eye knocks on her door and claims he saw someone enter her house, she hesitates between opening the door or checking out the noise she hears inside.
It’s a strong and gripping scene that sets the tone for this film.
In Oddity we follow Darcy (Carolyn Bracken), and when her twin sister Dani is murdered by an escaped mental patient, she visits the home where it happened to learn more about her death, and although blind, Darcy has a second sight and can read histories from objects.
Dani’s widowed husband Ted (Gwilym Lee) now has a new girlfriend, Yana (Caroline Menton) and both are shocked when Darcy arrives with a large wooden mannequin.
Darcy visits Ted and his new Girlfriend Yana at the house and brings a creepy looking wooden mannequin that seems to move on its own and the mystery around the mannequin is central to the film, though its full significance isn’t revealed until the end.
Oddity has plenty of atmosphere running through the film and most of the scenes takes place in the house, which is full of strange and odd doorways and corners and its design helps makes even the slower scenes tense, as you are constantly on edge expecting something or someone to emerge from one of the corners.
Bracken does a great job playing both Dani and Darcy, making them distinct characters despite their similarities and her performance brings the two characters to life.
Oddity is a film that slowly builds a sense of dread throughout, and while I won't spoil the ending, I personally loved it, as it delivers a steady, unsettling experience with plenty of shocks and scares, and Mc Carthy’s direction serves the story well revealing hidden truths and producing jump scares with simple techniques all while crafting an engaging plot that culminates in a satisfying conclusion.
A lot of the fear in the film comes from its atmosphere and situations that would naturally scare anyone in a similar scenario, and focuses on building dread rather than relying on loud noises for cheap scares, and there’s always something happening that keeps you engaged, with things shown but not immediately explained.
Each scene is designed to keep you tense, and always looking for something that might appear in the background or edges of the frame, and when done well, this helps builds the constant fear, and keeps us unsure of where it is all going.
While it does has some pacing issues, the film’s unique blend of horror tropes and its effective scares make it a solid choice for fans of
supernatural and psychological horror and if you enjoy a slow-burn horror experience with a memorable ending,
Oddity is definitely worth your time.
It has plenty of dread, some dark humor and is a well acted and compelling horror film, and one of the best opening scenes in a horror film for quite a while.
And if you enjoyed this one, I recommend watching
Caveat too, one of
Damian McCarthy's other films
.
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