Oddity is an independent Irish horror written and directed by Damian McCarthy. Not quite sure how this one came to my attention but the last independent Irish horror I reviewed was the excellent “A Dark Song”, so that probably got me looking at other Irish horrors and this one came up. The film stars Carolyn Bracken (In two roles, though one is brief). She is supported by Gwilym Lee, Caroline Menton and Steve Wall. Colm Hogan provides cinematography and Richard G. Mitchell provides the soundtrack.
“Dani” (Bracken) is murdered at her house late one night while her psychiatrist husband “Ted” (Lee) is at work. A year later and the psychiatric patient that is suspected of the murder is himself brutally slain Tom gives the man’s glass eye to “Darcy”, Dani’s blind sister (Also Bracken), a clairvoyant that is able to learn about that person from their items. She then travels to her sisters house to uncover the truth, bringing with her a large box containing a mysterious wooden statue of a man. Tom has to go to work, but his new girlfriend “Yana” is left at the house. But she is uncomfortable, not just by the company but also the house itself. She keeps seeing visions of Dani. As events unfold, the truth will be revealed.
Two Player Mafia
This is a film with few sets and few actors, but this leads to a major issue as it’s pretty obvious there is no real mystery over what happened to Dani. It’s a bit like trying to play the card game “Mafia” with two players. You know the guilty party at the start. The explanation for motivation feels a little weak at first. The reveal of just the kind of person Ted is helps with that, but also opens a number of potential plot holes. The main issue is the big divide between Ted’s life and his wife’s. They have been married for a number of years. Despite his sister-in-law being a clairvoyant and despite this being something that runs in their family, Ted casually dismisses all the occult. Even when faced with things that have no realistic explanation.
Meanwhile, Ted is a sociopath that has been abusing patients (And occasionally hiring psychotic ones as orderlies) for years. Yet neither his wife nor her clairvoyant sister ever suspected a thing. So while most of the reveals were predictable from the start, the few surprises just damage the films verisimilitude. Now to be fair, I’m sure the film makers knew it would be predictable. I mean, after the initial set up there are only four characters left in the film. One of which is only introduced late on and only after we are told of his involvement. The only question I had was if the girlfriend was involved or not. Whichever way that landed, wouldn’t really add to the mystery.
Conclusion
Fortunately though, Oddity has a solid atmosphere to it. Really, very little happens, but the movie makes the most of the dark foreboding ambiance. A lot of this is probably down to budget restraints, but horror has always worked well in those situations. There’s not much else to it however. Despite being the protagonist Darcy doesn’t really do much. Most of the actual acting here is from Caroline Menton in her role as Ted’s girlfriend Yana. Sadly, she gets a barely passing grade in that regard. Not terrible, but unconvincing. After Yana departs, everyone is basically taking the role of antagonist, including Darcy. It becomes a “Who can be more menacing” competition.
One last positive thing I can say about the movie is the Golem did look creepy. I can tell they spent some time on the design. Which in some ways is a waste because it too doesn’t do much in this film. This is a bit of a theme really. There is no much to this movie outside of atmosphere. The plot doesn’t drag you in or make you think and none of the characters are really compelling or relatable. On Atmosphere alone it could score well, but overall I think the best I can give the film is a 5.5/10. If you like slow burn, atmospheric horror you may enjoy it. On the other hand if you do like that and haven’t seen “A Dark Song” (2016), watch that instead.