Oddity is an under-the-radar horror movie that follows a blind medium as she tries to find her sister’s murderers. The movie centers around the medium Darcy, her sister Dani’s husband Ted, and his new girlfriend Yana. While the movie is not overly graphic and gory, Oddity creates a tense atmosphere with well-timed scares and a great-paced story.
Oddity is a slow burn of a movie. The story is well-paced as it plays its hand as it needs, never revealing its twists too soon. The movie begins with Dani’s fate being revealed and the rest of the movie is Darcy talking with Ted and Yana at their house. The dialogue is smartly written as Darcy knows more than we do, and she’ll slip nuggets in as she talks to Ted or Yana that go under the radar until later in the movie.
Carolyn Bracken pulls double duty playing both Dani and Darcy. She does an incredible job making these two sisters feel familial while being two different people. Especially with Darcy being blind, it was incredible for her to differentiate the two and make Darcy such a powerful character.
The movie is really good at lulling you into a state of comfort before a good jumpscare hits. When the wooden mannequin is introduced, the movie elevates its horror. A lot of the jumpscares are reminiscent of what Mike Flanagan did really well with Haunting on Hill House. However, the mannequin creates more of a monster element that was well utilized but I wish they did more with him.
What works incredibly well for Oddity is it uses its contained story to its advantage. There are three locations where the film is shot: Darcy’s store, Ted’s hospital, and Ted and Dani’s countryside home. This makes each location feel unique and each character is extremely well written. It is extremely small scale. While Dani’s murder was a year ago in the story, the main plot of the story takes place over a few days, with some flashbacks. This makes the story feel incredibly concise and focused. There are no loose ends, no straggling subplots, just, a good, clear story.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Oddity is one of the better horror movies to come out this year, but it isn’t getting talked about enough. It is a fun slow burn with great performances led by Carolyn Bracken with some awesome scares. This is one worth watching if you want a good underrated scare this year.
4/5
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