Coming to theaters this Friday (July 19, 2024) from IFC, is the horror film Oddity.
Oddity stars Gwilym Lee, Carolyn Bracken, Tadhg Murphy, Caroline Menton, Jonathan French, and Steve Wall.
Normally I write up my own movie synopsis, but in some cases I feel like the official synopsis is much better than what I would write (plus I worry about giving away any spoilers).
When Dani is brutally murdered at the remote country house that she and her husband Ted are renovating, everyone suspects a patient from the local mental health institution, where Ted is a doctor. However, soon after the tragic killing, the suspect is found dead. A year later, Dani’s blind twin sister Darcy, a self-proclaimed psychic and collector of cursed items, pays an unexpected visit to Ted and his new girlfriend, Yana. Convinced that there was more to her sister’s murder than people know, Darcy has brought with her the most dangerous items from her cursed collection to help her exact revenge.
This is one of those films were the cinematography plays a huge role in setting the stage for the story to play out. The film is dark for the most part. You won’t find sunshine and blue skies in this film. The story mostly plays out in a dark home and a creepy, dreary psychiatric facility. Personally I am not a big fan of movies that are too dark. I feel like I’m missing out on seeing what is really happening on the screen, but this film wasn’t as bad in that aspect as other horror films I have watched over the years.
I consider myself (jokingly of course) as a “horror movie snob.” I takes a lot, and I do mean A LOT, to impress me. I’ve been watching and enjoying horror movies all my life, however, almost every horror movie that I have seen in the past few decades are either ridiculous, or rely too much on extreme gore and/or a lot of sex and nudity. Movies such as The Shining and The Omen prove, you DON’T need to focus on excessive gore and nudity to make a great horror film. But anyway, I digress.
I don’t get scared when watching horror movies. Even most “jump scares” don’t effect me. In this film there were two instances where I “jump scare” actually make me flinch. I find that impressive seeing as how “jump scares” rarely bother me. I won’t tell you the exact parts of the film where they occurred. You’ll just have to go see the film to find out for yourself.
The overall storyline was okay. A wife is murdered and her husband moves on to another women very quickly. We have all seen films like that before. It’s a no-brainer to figure out that there is a connection to these facts.
Dani’s blind sister Darcy, played exceptionally well by Carolyn Bracken, lends to the overall creepiness of this film. She has platinum hair and sort of an ethereal look to her. She looks both creepy, yet angelic, at the same time. It also seems very odd that a blind woman deals with cursed items.
The acting was pretty good overall. I had no issues with anyone in this film.
As far as gore goes, there is one grizzly murder that occurs that I was shocked by. The gore only appears briefly on screen, so you don’t have to shy away from this film if gore is not your “cup of tea.”
Look for Oddity at a theater near you.
Oddity has a run time of an hour and thirty nine minutes and is rated R.
To learn more about IFC films visit IFCFilms.com. You can also go directly to Oddity’s official webpage here.
Below is the film’s trailer for your enjoyment.
Kimberly
*I received a free screener link in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.
