Oddity(2024)(Review) - Gruesome Gazette

Irish filmmaker Damian McCarthy was introduced to the general populace back in 2020 when his debut feature ‘Caveat’ was released. Of course, due to the unfortunate circumstances involved with 2020, the film was never given a proper release – minus Shudder streaming – and he couldn’t tour with it. Luckily, like most great artists, he took the bad situation and negative emotions and put them into his newest film, ‘Oddity’.

‘Oddity’ essentially revolves around two main characters – a widowed psychiatrist named Ted whose wife, Dani, was murdered in his giant, stone mansion in the country; and Darcy – his sister-in-law whose blind and owns a passed down haunted oddity shop (there’s even a “Caveat” cameo with the creepy bunny doll being on display in a small shot). Their two lives re-intertwine on the anniversary of Dani’s murder, where Darcy comes into possession of a haunted relic that was involved with the crime. Darcy is also a clairvoyant medium, so by simply holding a cursed item, she is able to feel and see what surrounds it, and she feels there is more to the story regarding the murder of her sister.

Ted invites Darcy (half-heartedly) for dinner on the anniversary, and while he forgets, Darcy certainly doesn’t. She shows up at the mansion practically unannouced with an oddity of her own to give to Ted – a life-size wooden mannequin that was handcrafted by a witch and handed down from her mother. Ted and his new partner, Yana, are creeped out by it, and creeped out by Darcy too, but things only continue to get darker and more mysterious as the night progresses and Darcy aims to make more sense of the crime.

This movie is oppressively ambient. 85% of it takes place within the stone mansion, so it feels claustrophobic in a way, but the director also brilliantly walks us through the geography of the place so we also know exactly what every door leads to and where we are at any given time. This works wonderfully since the background of many shots have these dark, looming shadows and figures. The story is well thought out, the actors are extremely genuine, and the violence is incredibly sparse which makes the little bits we see so much more effective.

It’s not a slow-burn by any means, but it does take its time to get to the conclusion. There is so much constant eeriness and disorientation with the clues we uncover that the film never comes to a halt. The pace and the filmmaking craft is restrained but confident. And it’s genuinely scary for a bulk of the runtime.

As with most movies this year, the critics have been wonderful to this film while the home audience has been divisive. But I’m telling you, this is easily top 5 of the year for me. It was interesting and creepy with an iconic “creature” that is haunting to stare at even when it’s motionless. It never lets up, it’s pretty clever, and it ends in a way that’s a wonderful chef’s kiss.

Ignore the trailers and go in blind. Check this one out if you’re looking for a proper scary time.

4.5/5
“Oddity” is currently available on VOD, and coming to Shudder before the end of September.

‘Til Next Time,
Mike Cleopatra