A blind woman seeks answers for her twin sister’s murder in Oddity. While renovating her newly acquired country house, Dani (Carolyn Bracken) is brutally murdered. The crime is pegged on Olin Boole (Tadhg Murphy), a one-eyed man recently discharged from a psychiatric hospital, where Dani’s husband Ted (Gwilym Lee) works as a doctor, with Olin himself ending up brutally murdered in his cell.
One year later, Ted enters the oddity shop run by Dani’s blind twin sister Darcy (also Carolyn Bracken) to give her Olin Boole’s recently recovered glass eye so she can read it with her powers as a medium. Soon afterwards, Darby shows up at Ted’s house and brings a large monstrous wooden mannequin with her. Darby becomes acquainted with Ted’s new girlfriend Yana (Caroline Menton), who believes that she has been seeing Dani’s ghost in the house.
Oddity Synopsis
Oddity is a supernatural horror film and the sophomore feature from Irish writer/director Damian Mc Carthy (Caveat). The film stars Carolyn Bracken (You Are Not My Mother) as twin sisters Dani and Darcy, the latter of whom is a blind medium. In the opening prologue of the film, Dani is greeted at the door by Olin Boole, played by Tadhg Murphy (The Northman), who insists he saw someone sneak into the house while she was not watching. What happens next is saved for a later flashback, but the result is that Dani is brutally murdered.
The main plot of the film involves Darcy using her gifts as a medium to decipher the truth about her sister’s murder. This includes questioning Ted’s new girlfriend Yana about the nature of their relationship before the murder. Yana, who already doesn’t like staying in the house, becomes further creeped out when she sees the large wooden mannequin Darcy brought to the house turn its head toward her.
My Thoughts on Oddity
Damian Mc Carthy’s 2021 debut film Caveat was a truly unnerving film, which sadly didn’t find much of an audience, due to it being released in the middle of the pandemic (the film’s still on Shudder and worth checking out). While his follow-up film Oddity is not as effective, it still has some spine-chilling moments. Much of the tension in the film involves the large wooden mannequin, which is quite obviously a golem, and you are waiting for the moment when it inevitably begins moving on its own.
While overall a supernatural horror film, Oddity can be described as a mash-up of different subgenres, including slasher film and creature features. Oddity is a bit more reliant on jump scares than Caveat was, though one of them is perfectly placed and can fool even the most astute horror fan. As for the plot of the film, I admit that I had most of the film figured out relatively early on, though the film is less about the destination and more about how you get there.
If there is a criticism I have towards Oddity, it’s that the film doesn’t quite stick the landing. You are left wanting the most despicable character in the film to get their comeuppance and instead, the film ends on a throwback sight gag that more hints at their ultimate fate than shows it. However, Oddity is still a recommended supernatural horror film.
Trailer for Oddity
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