I always say Shudder is missing out by not attempting to make their streaming service accessible, and the fact that their theatrical titles are tied to IFC, where they end up getting audio description makes it all the more frustrating that the service itself, which now has Oddity, will run it without the track they paid for. Bizarre.
But perhaps not as bizarre as this film. When this film first hit the blind market, I remember seeing a specific reaction from someone in the community who was turned off because of the feature in this film that the central blind character has some form of second sight. I’ve encountered a few of those questions about having heightened senses, or secretly being Daredevil, so I can understand not wanting to perpetuate a stereotype, but no one has thought I could commune with the dead, or predict the future. And I swear… my hearing is better.
Oddity centers around a blind woman who runs a curiosity shop, and is dealing with the sudden and unexpected death of her sister. She travels to her sister’s house, where her ex-brother in law now lives, so find out that he’s already moved on. But, she has a very special gift for them. And, it certainly is an oddity.
This film is delightfully weird, full of some really fun scary imagery, and an actually solid script that tackles grief in such a specific way that I really enjoyed it. The opening scene is confusing and jarring at first, and you keep wondering how all of this is going to come together. But, these things that go bump in the night, and how they fit into the film, really seems like our blind lead is less of an offensive stereotype and more than meets the eye, if that makes any sense.
The audio description track is well written, and perhaps a little too enthusiastically narrated. there were a few times I felt the narrator was just shouting at me, like as the tension was rising. I’ve heard performative audio description before, and I do prefer it, but I’m not sure this is that. It felt more like just shouting.
Probably the most haunting description that has stayed with me has to do with what is inside this box. It is a bit of a spoiler, but if I can play “if I was in the movie” for a minute, lets just say I would have Kool Aid Man’d my way out of the house. Don’t even wait to open the door. Do not pass Go, and keep your $200. The fact that the thing in the box is pulled out, and it sits there, for as long as it does is why people die in horror movies. There are just some things… you just gottta know when you have to leave, sell the house, quit your job, and move far far away and just pray that it never finds you. The audio description track supported the hell out of just how odd this thing is, and how much I missed my skin as it crawled away from my body.
I really liked Oddity. I think if you are in the mood for something that is only a little gory, but very weird, and a dash of spooky, with a sprinkle of scary, this is for you.
Final Grade: A-
