Format: DVD from Sycamore Public Library on basement television.
I frequently do full reviews on newer horror movies with the thought that it is possible that they will appear on future versions of the They Shoot Zombies list. This is especially true when the films are highly acclaimed, by critics, audiences, or both. I’m pretty confident that Oddity will show up in a year or two; the list tends to drag a few years behind release dates.
Oddity is a film that is going to attract a very particular type of horror fan. Gorehounds are going to find it dull and slow, and if your interest is in blood and severed limbs, there isn’t going to be a lot for you here. Oddity spends about the first two-thirds of its running time building up an atmosphere. Some of that is what you expect—it's going to be the sort of dread and sense of danger that we tend to get from the average horror movie. There’s also a very distinct sense of menace coming from one character, but that’s what the actual review is for, right?
The film opens with a terrible situation and a brutal murder. Dani Odello-Timmins (Carolyn Bracken) and her psychiatrist husband Ted (Gwilym Lee) have purchased a country house, which Dani is renovating. One night, Olin Boole (Tadgh Murphy), one of her husband’s former patients, shows up at the house, telling her that someone has broken in and is inside the house with her. Dani is brutally murdered, and Boole is thought to be the culprit. He himself is eventually murdered.
We jump a year forward and we are introduced to Darcy Odello (also Carolyn Bracken), Dani’s twin sister. Darcy is blind and claims to be a clarivoyant who can “read” objects. She runs an antique shop in Cork, claiming that all of her items are cursed (with the curse removed upon purchase). Ted visits her and vaguely invites her out to the house, which he has kept despite the tragedy that happened there. It is also revealed that Ted has a new girlfriend, Yana (Caroline Menton). It’s clear that Darcy is not very happy about that fact.
Nonetheless, Darcy shows up at the house a few days later, surprising both Ted and Yana. While her arrival was unexpected and unannounced, she is preceded by a huge crate that contains a life-sized, disturbing mannequin. Darcy showing up as she did seems to have picked a bad night; Ted is working the night shift in his psychiatric hospital and Yana is planning to return to the city that night. Ted leaves, but things start to get strange when Yana’s car keys disappear.
This is where we really hit the atmosphere building portion of the film. We’re going to get some time here where the focus will be on the mannequin and Darcy asking increasingly odd questions to Yana. Yana eventually takes a closer look at the mannequin and discovers a series of holes in the top of its head. These holes contain increasingly upsetting items—photographs of Dani and Darcy, a tooth, a lock of hair, and a vial of blood. Yana eventually finds her keys in the crate that the mannequin was shipped in, and she skedaddles. It’s hard to blame her, honestly.
This is the point in the film where everything ramps up, and it’s exactly that point where I need to stop talking about the plot. Anything beyond this moment is going to end up being a spoiler, and it’s really worth watching this without having the twist moment spoiled for you.
Oddity is about that build up to the shock moment and then the insanity that follows after that, and it does get insane. The most effective part of this is that it doesn’t get insane in the same way. This goes in several directions; you’re getting several “big twist” moments one after another.
There is a real sense of dread throughout the movie. A part of this comes from the lighting and the use of shadow and dark space. It’s never hard to see what is happening in Oddity, but the film is filled with darkness, a sort of constant twilight. It always feels like there could be something that we can’t quite see that might step out at any moment. There is a feeling here that the film doesn’t need jump scares. Nothing is going to leap out of the shadows at us, but something is going to step out and reveal itself. This is a constant low-level aura of threat, and it’s incredibly effective.
The bulk of the dread, though, comes from Carolyn Bracken’s gripping performance as Darcy. It’s impossible to tell if Darcy is serious or deluded, pranking everyone or moments away from snapping. She’s not quite unhinged, but the hinges are barely working. It feels like she is always forcing herself not to explode.
I thought it was excellent. Movies like this are why I like horror movies.
Why to watch Oddity: The last 20 minutes are a roller coaster.
Why not to watch: It takes some time to get going
