“Oddity”: An Entertaining Horror Film in a Year Full of Boredom

Damian McCarthy wrote and directed this horror film, one of my favorites of the genre released in 2024.

Summary

Dani Odello, wife of a psychiatrist from the local mental institution, is brutally murdered in the country house she and her husband Ted are renovating. The main suspect is a recently released patient from the institution who is found dead not long after the crime.

A year after the incident, Darcy, Dani’s blind twin sister and self-proclaimed psychic, pays a visit to Ted and his new girlfriend. She is sure the police have arrived at the wrong conclusion, and she believes that spending time at the place where Dani died will provide answers. And above all, it will give her the chance to punish the ones responsible for taking her sister away.

Entertaining and Scary

2024 has been a year full of disappointments for the horror genre. A decent and enjoyable project is pretty hard to find these days. However, this film may be one of my favorites of its kind so far.

Oddity focuses on Darcy, a woman with psychic powers who wants to avenge her dead sister. Her brother-in-law does not take her seriously at all but always ends up humoring her, like he is treating one of his psychiatric patients. That is how the blind woman arrives unannounced, bringing some of her “cursed objects” along with her. That includes a life-sized wooden mannequin, which will be crucial later on.

Throughout the film, we have reasons to believe that Dani’s spirit is still in the house, and despite Ted’s disbelief, we know Darcy is not insane. However, the scope of her power is yet to be seen.

The movie does not need the violence to be overtly explicit to get a reaction from the public. We get to see some disturbing shots, but it never lasts long, which makes it all the more effective.

Carolyn Bracken portrays twins Dani and Darcy so well that you forget you’re seeing the same actress. The rest of the cast does a pretty good job as well.

A Predictable Perpetrator?

From the first moments of the film, I got the feeling that Ted, Dani’s husband, was going to be involved in some way. He seems suspiciously calm and indifferent about his wife being brutally murdered. It was possible to see it coming.

At first, I was disappointed, because the reason the man gives for getting rid of Dani is very trivial. However, the unpredictable comes from realizing what a psycho Ted really is. He does not care about anything or anyone, and has no problem eliminating whoever is in his way.

The only thing I had mixed feelings about was the ending. The final scene leaves the promise of a horrible destiny for Ted, Darcy’s final revenge. I liked it.

But, to be honest, I wanted to see that character pay on camera. Darcy did not want to kill him herself, convinced it would not be enough punishment. She wanted him to lose his reputation, his job, and his house—everything he had been killing for. She wanted to ruin him in life. I was left wanting.

Reception

Oddity has counted on a limited theatrical release, but it has received good reviews from audiences and critics alike. In this case, I’m going to agree with them. This film is way better than most things released this year in this particular genre. Better than Speak No Evil, and much, much better than Longlegs. Only surpassed so far by The Substance, but even though that one is a horror film, it’s a very different type of production.

I would not say it offers something never seen before, but at least it’s very entertaining, it’s original, and it actually scares you.