Dir. Damian Mc Carthy (2024)
A woman investigates her sister's murder with the help of a wooden mannequin.
Hollywood has gone through a multitude of changes over the years, and horror has definitely been a huge part of those changes. In the 50's and 60's, the suspense film was all the rage, reaching back into roots that include directors like Fritz Lang and Henri-Georges Clouzot to pave the way for a new kind of film that was perfect by the master himself, Alfred Hitchcock. It feels sometimes like that genre of film barely exists anymore, or that the sleek, modern stylings has eliminated a lot of the impact of films like The Innocents or Diabolique, and it's rare to find a film with that kind of storyline that is done well without reaching into the bag of tricks modern directors have become familiar with. Oddity, the new film from director Damian Mc Carthy, hearkens back to the old days while containing enough supernatural kick to please even the most hardened horror fan.
Dani (Carolyn Bracken) is murdered after answering the door for a mental patient named Olin (Tadhg Murphy) when she is alone one night, and the murder is of course pinned on the crazy man. A year later, her husband Ted (Gwilym Lee) is with a new woman named Yana (Caroline Menton), seemingly having forgotten about his dead wife. When Dani's psychic twin sister Darcy (Bracken in a dual role) shows up trying to investigate the murder of her sister, questions begin to be raised and it starts to look like the official story may not be all there is to it. Darcy enlists the help of a wooden mannequin, who serves as a conduit with which to see into the past and try to get answers once and for all.
I never got the chance to check out director Damian Mc Carthy's first film, Caveat, but after watching the upcoming Oddity, I'm definitely going to have to. An eerie blend of 50's-era murder mystery and supernatural thriller, it's a fantastically done creepfest with a couple of incredibly memorably jumpscares that literally made me yell out loud in a room full of people. Mc Carthy does his best Hitchcock impression, delivering some excellent scenes of suspense while making a film that is one of the most unsettling I've seen in quite a while. Karma and retribution are on full display, creating a narrative that feels like a throwback to previous eras while containing a modern update on a timeless story that is at times predictable and at others straight up scary.
Bracken is excellent in her roles as Dani and Darcy, but she's not the only one. The entire cast does a fantastic job, and I was perhaps most intrigued by the performance of Caroline Menton as the new love interest of Dani's husband. She is the first to understand just how precarious her position is, and she serves as the contrast to the revenge story that plays out in the rest of the film. It's an excellently told story, and Menton helps to get the ball rolling as the story begins to take shape. It's vitally important that, in a story like this, the characters embody the part they are supposed to play, and that holds true in this film. Lee's Ted and his protégé Ivan, played perfectly creepily by Steve Wall, are excellent foils to the investigative Darcy in a way that makes the story feel as realistic as possible despite its otherworldly influences.
For all the positives, Oddity is predictable. It's not hard to figure out, and even reading the synopsis will likely lead you down the path of discovering what really happened to Dani. It is the journey, however, that is worth taking. Despite being a murder mystery that never really feels like a mystery, there's enough terrifyingly sinister scares here to get the blood pumping anyway. The mannequin at the center of the story is scary as all hell, and it's used expertly by Mc Carthy to elevate the tension to almost unbearable levels at times. And hoo boy, those jumpscares are a sight to behold, and this is coming from someone who doesn't appreciate them unless they're done incredibly well. If you're looking for a throwback film that delivers a bit of Old Hollywood suspense with some modern scares, this is definitely the film for you.
Who this movie is for: Suspense/thriller lovers, Supernatural horror fans, Curiosity shop owners
Bottom line: Oddity is scary, and it's an incredibly well-done Hitchcockian, noirish thriller with a modern, ultra-stylish sensibility. It's a masterclass in tension "relieved" by short bursts of terror, a genuinely scary film by a clearly very talented director. It's coming to theaters July 19th and will be streaming on Shudder at some point in the near future, and I definitely recommend checking it out when you get the chance.