When Dani is brutally murdered at the remote country house that she and her husband Ted are renovating, everyone suspects a patient from the local mental health institution, where Ted is a doctor. However, soon after the tragic killing, the suspect is found dead. A year later, Dani’s blind twin sister Darcy, a self-proclaimed psychic and collector of cursed items, pays an unexpected visit to Ted and his new girlfriend, Yana. Convinced that there was more to her sister’s murder than people know, Darcy has brought with her the most dangerous items from her cursed collection to help her exact revenge.
Written & directed by Damian McCarthy, Oddity stars the talents of Gwilym Lee, Carolyn Bracken, Tadhg Murphy, Caroline Menton, Jonathan French, and Steve Wall. Oddity is a character driven psychological horror that encompasses multiple subgenres in an attempt to make sure that there is the right kind of scare for everyone.
The film starts slow and somewhat confusing but the pacing and story flesh out into an incredibly interesting tale both creepy and complex. Moreover, certain aspects of the film are truly terrifying in ways I’d consider fresh; a rare commodity in 2024. We’ve had a handful of really great horror titles this year and Oddity is in contention to be the best one yet.
The star of the show, for me, was clearly Carolyn Bracken playing the roles of both Dani Timmins and Darcy Odello. Both characters were fiercely portrayed yet immensely different. Night and day. Bracken’s screen presence was also eerie and engaging; the terrified Dani juxtaposed against the fearless Darcy. Menton’s Yana played off Darcy’s energy well, making her almost as memorable.
The other star has to be the shifting horror elements. Without spoiling, we get treated to different ‘kinds’ of horrors throughout this one film—from haunted houses to slashers to haunted objects and creature…it’s all there in some way, shape, or form.
Oddity is a character-driven psychological thriller that slowly becomes a supernatural horror. My goal with Oddity was to make a film that is unpredictable and hard to classify in the numerous sub genres of horror. It’s a revenge movie. It’s a haunted house movie. It’s a monster movie. It’s a thriller and a whodunit. ODDITY is my way of bringing all of these subgenres that I love together in one unique story that I hope encourages repeat viewings.
While wishing for multiple viewings may be a push, McCarthy definitely succeeded in creating a mosaic of a horror film that caters to almost every taste out there without becoming messy. There is a lot going on and while the film takes its time finding its stride, it goes full sprint from the second act all the way to the fantastic finale.
The technical aspects are all sound. This high-quality film has a great setting, beautiful structures, a fitting score, and good editing. There is very little that I have in the way of critique and you should definitely give this title a chance once it hits Shudder this Friday, September 27th.
Thanks for reading and as always, stay sordid. The poster and trailer for the film are below.
ODDITY Poster
