Following his stunning directorial debut, Caveat, Damien Mc Carthy returns with Oddity, a film that begins with what could be one of the best opening sequences of the year. Danni Timmins (Carolyn Becker), wife to Ted (Gwilym Lee), a psychiatrist, often finds herself spending nights alone at their newly acquired country home due to his night shifts at the mental hospital. On one such night, she walks out of the house to her car to get her jacket, hears something in the bushes, and returns home. When Dani shuts the door behind her, a pounding sound reaches her ears. Peeking through a rectangular sliding peephole, she sees a man named Olin Boole (Tadhg Murphy) pleading with her to open the door, claiming that someone had broken in while she was in the car and that he could help her. Olin appears strange, with one glass eye, a beard, long hair, and suspicious behavior. Dani correctly deduces that he is the patient at the psychiatric hospital where Ted works. As a result, Dani refuses to open the door, but she begins to hear noises from inside the house. She is left wondering what to do and who to believe, and before she can make a decision, the scene cuts abruptly, and the opening title appears on the screen. It’s an incredible way to open a film, and if this premise doesn’t pique your interest, then I don’t know what will.
The film then surprisingly jumps eleven months later, revealing Dani was murdered that night, and Olin was convicted of the crime and later discovered dead in a mental facility. Additionally, it is disclosed that Ted already has a new girlfriend, Yana (Caroline Menton), and they live in the same country house. While everyone else seemed to have moved on from Dani, Darcy—Dani’s blind twin sister—who operates an antique shop and appears to be clairvoyant with psychometric powers—does not believe Olin is the murderer and is still looking for the actual perpetrator. How she employs her psychic abilities to investigate her sister’s murder serves as the foundation for the remainder of the film.
The film does a fantastic job of maintaining the suspense around Dani’s death, primarily by disguising the murder mystery as a supernatural horror thriller. The first half is tense and gripping; it’s also some of the best filmmaking I’ve seen this year in any horror film. If Damien Mc Carthy’s previous film, Caveat, taught us anything, it’s that he knows his way around the horror tropes and how to use them effectively, as well as how to create an unsettling atmosphere, both of which he flawlessly executes in Oddity. The combination of cinematographer Colm Hogan’s unnerving static long take shots—which manage to produce tension and unease—with low lighting, and the production designer’s creation of that peculiar-looking spooky house—which gives an isolated feeling—makes for a menacing experience.
The film’s weirdness level grows when Darcy arrives at the house, and Yana is forced to spend the night with her. She also brings a box with her, containing an ominous-looking wooden mannequin with its eyes gouged out and its mouth agape. The sequence featuring Yana and Darcy, with the former’s feeling of an uncanny presence in the house and the mystery surrounding the mannequin that Darcy places at the table, heightens the danger level and will surely put you on edge. The first half is expertly paced, with McCarthy providing multiple WTF moments, leaving you gasping for breath.
Unfortunately, as the film begins to reveal its cards, its weakness comes to the forefront, ultimately disappointing the audience with its reveal. The film’s main flaw is the thin characterization of some of the characters and the weak establishment of their relationships. As a result, the motivations behind the crime appear extremely shallow and unsatisfactory. Additionally, the screenplay loses steam, resulting in highly predictable plot points that make the true killer’s identity easy to guess. After building up such a storm in the first half, this lets the tension that had you on the edge of your seat break, and the film ultimately falls short of expectations. However, the final sequence, which was ingeniously set up beforehand, gives a gratifying conclusion—but not to the degree you were expecting after all the anticipation.
Performance-wise, Carolyn Becker nails the double role of Dani and Darcy. She brings a carefree and playful attitude to the role of Dani, while her portrayal of Darcy is more subdued and enigmatic, lending the character an air of unpredictability that can sometimes be frightening. Yana, played by Menton, is convincingly pompous and full of attitude; she also provides welcome comic relief in the film. However, Lee’s portrayal of Ted felt bland and monotonous, and the character could have used some polishing.
Oddity movie links: IMDB, Letterboxd
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