After the brutal murder of her twin sister, Darcy goes after those responsible by using haunted items as her tools for revenge.
Director: Damian McCarthy
Cast: Gwilym Lee, Carolyn Bracken, Tadhg Murphy, Caroline Menton, Jonathan French, Steve Wall
Release Date: July 19, 2024
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Rated R for some bloody images/gore and language.
Runtime: 1h 38m
Review:
Oddity is a lean, well constructed spook fest that sets up scares with impressive skill that echoes Guillermo del Toro's The Devil's Backbone. Damian McCarthy displays a self assured confidence behind the camera as he smartly constructs his film to establish mood and setting. He manages to use a series of well timed jump scares to hammer home the overall tension he establishes early on. In lesser hands, these jump scares might come off as an easy out, but McCarthy manages to pull you into the story's central mystery in order to set you up for the sudden shocks. His judicious use of these moments works in the film's favor as he allows the film's cast to carry the film with excellent performances across the board especially Carolyn Bracken in a dual role. Bracken does the majority of the heavy lifting as the surviving, blind twin sister who possesses supernatural ability and a rather large wooden Golem. She brings an unnatural aura to her performance that gives the character an otherworldly feel. Her interactions with Caroline Menton and Gwilym Lee are unsettling because there's a steady sense that her character knows far more than she's letting on. Menton, who plays the widower's new girlfriend, is appropriately freaked out from the moment she shows up while Lee's turn in more measured throughout. He brings a quiet charisma and charm to his role which makes the late reveal effective even though it's fairly predictable. The story in general doesn't offer a ton of surprises and nearly everything turns out the way you'd expect. It’s a testament to the talent on both sides of the camera that Oddity works as well as it does even with a fairly straightforward story.
B
