Would you answer the door for a stranger and let them into your home?
The year 2024 has been abound with diverse horror releases, ranging from a slasher largely observed from the killer’s perspective, a film featuring a child vampire ballerina, and a crime thriller showcasing Nicholas Cage in a way that we never could have anticipated. The horror genre has always been varied, but to say that this year has been nothing short of exceptional would be an understatement.
No matter how popular the horror genre has gotten over the past couple of years, there tends to always be a number of titles that slip our radar—indie films and foreign films, for example, don’t always get wide releases, which means they also don’t get advertised as effectively or ardently as remakes or legacy sequels/prequels. One film that almost slipped my radar this year is Oddity (2024), an Irish horror film written and directed by Damian McCarthy, known for 2020’s Caveat.
Oddity opens with Dani Odello-Timmis, the wife of psychiatrist Ted Timmis, as she spends the night alone in their newly acquired country house. The couple is in the process of renovating their new home, so Dani is still getting adjusted. Her seemingly peaceful night is unexpectedly interrupted when a disconcerting stranger knocks on her door and claims that he saw an intruder go into her home when she wasn’t looking. As if this wasn’t already weird enough, Dani realizes that this person is one of Ted’s former patients, Olin Boole. She has to choose between running the risk of being attacked by the alleged intruder or being attacked by Boole himself. Dani is brutally murdered that same night, with Olin ultimately being convicted of the crime. However, his corpse is later found in his room at the psychiatric hospital, leaving more questions than answers.
One year later, Ted visits Dani’s identical twin sister, Darcy—a blind clairvoyant—at her Cabinet of Curiosities shop. The two of them talk about the past before deciding that they should meet again soon at the aforementioned country house. On the anniversary of Dani’s death, Darcy arrives unannounced along with a shipment of a large crate containing a strange life-sized wooden doll. Although her arrival was unforeseen by Ted and his new girlfriend Yana, they ultimately allow her to stay in order to avoid being rude. Darcy intends to use her supernatural abilities to aid her in solving the mystery behind Dani’s untimely death.
By far the most outstanding performance in Oddity comes from Carolyn Bracken, who is tasked with playing both Dani Odello-Timmis and her blind psychic sister Darcy Odello. Psychic characters can often come off as really cheesy or over the top, but Bracken’s portrayal came off as very grounded and likable. The psychic character in horror films is typically tasked with providing exposition to the lead characters (and to the audience) regarding the rules of the supernatural, but here, Darcy is the main character and is on a mission to avenge her sister. I found it easy to believe that Dani and Darcy were sisters who cared very deeply for each other, even though the two of them are never on screen together. This is a testament to Bracken’s performance and abilities. There are moments where Darcy is meant to come off as a bit of a nuisance to some of the other characters, but I somehow still find her to be very charming.
There are sporadic moments of humor throughout the film that I really enjoyed, mostly since it never felt misplaced. The humor does not distract from the overall mood or focus of the story and instead feels natural to the conversations happening between the characters. Oftentimes, horror films will include comedic relief in order to add a bit of levity to the dread, with varying results. Here, every character feels three-dimensional and the way that they poke fun at each other feels raw. Oddity won’t have you laughing all the way through, it just manages to inject some light humor into its dialogue without feeling forced.
The horror elements in Oddity are immensely understated in a way that can be compared to classic horror films from the 1960s. Nothing supernatural really happens until the later half of the second act, but the foreboding atmosphere that pervaded the opening sequence will be more than enough to hold you over. I suppose that Oddity would be considered a slow burn to some, but I personally wouldn’t place it into that category. The scares that play out during the later half of the film are made effective by Damian McCarthy’s careful direction and eye for unearthly imagery. The life-sized wooden doll is particularly uncanny and will no doubt be one of the main reasons that the film will be remembered.
Among all of the spectacular horror releases this year, Oddity manages to stand out with its subtlety and emphasis on story-telling. If you’re someone who values gore and countless in-your-face jump-scares, you may need to find your thrills somewhere else. I’m a viewer who enjoys all sub-genres of horror, so I appreciate the mixed bag of treats that the film Gods have blessed us with thus far. Oddity is a captivating Poe-esque mystery that crescendo to a supernatural revenge tale with a series of twists and turns that you may or may not see coming.
Oddity will begin streaming on Shudder from September 27!
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Your typical ghoul next door; film enthusiast, horror fanatic, J-horror nerd, aspiring horror host, and all around geek. Will likely be found cuddling with their cat and reading an old smelly book, or stuffing their face with popcorn at the cinema!