Oddity – Movie Review (4/5)

ODDITY is a new horror movie from Ireland. This murder mystery has a supernatural twist of folklore origin and features a deliciously creepy vibe. Read our full Oddity movie review here!

ODDITY is coming out in theaters first and will be on Shudder soon. However you watch it, I highly recommend that you do. This Irish horror movie has a supernatural plot inspired by lore in the way Irish horror productions are excelling.

Some more than others, of course, and this is definitely one of the better. On the surface, this is a murder mystery – which it absolutely is – but there is also more to the story, as you will discover when you watch it. The runtime is just shy of 100 minutes and it is deliciously dark and creepy.

Continue reading our Oddity movie review below. Find it in theaters from July 19, 2024, and coming to Shudder soon.

A different kind of mannequin

In this new supernatural spectacle, we meet the blind medium, Darcy. When her sister, Dani, is brutally murdered at the remote country house she’s renovating with her husband Ted, something feels very off to Darcy.

While everyone accepts that it must be an escaped patient (Tadhg Murphy) from the nearby mental health institution – the very same one where Ted (Gwilym Lee) is a doctor – Darcy feels the answer lies elsewhere.

Also, the suspect was found dead soon after the murder, which is another odd coincidence. Dani’s twin sister Darcy may be blind, but she sees more than the rest of us. She’s a self-proclaimed psychic and also collects cursed items.

She brings one of these items to visit Ted and his new girlfriend, Yana (Caroline Menton), a year later. She’s convinced there was more to her sister’s murder, so she brings a full-size wooden mannequin that will help her find answers. Well, find answers and help her avenge her sister!

Carolyn Bracken is brilliant

Some horror movies have a hook such as a blind protagonist or a doll of some kind. Oddity has both! And that’s just one of the things that make this movie a great watch. We follow a blind medium as she uncovers who killed her sister via a wooden mannequin.

Sounds strange, I’m sure, but the storyline of this Irish horror movie evolves in a way that feels very organic.

Also, the sisters are twins, so the same actor portrays both the twin we meet in the beginning – who ends up murdered – and the twin who wants to find the killer of her sister. One has dark longer hair, the other has almost white hair in a short hairstyle.

Carolyn Bracken does an excellent job of portraying both characters who feel like very separate people. Well, because they are, obviously, but it’s still extremely efficient how the small differences in her performance underscore the physical difference between the two twins.

We’ve also reviewed the Irish horror movie You Are Not My Mother (2021) which also starred Carolyn Bracken. She was equally brilliant in that movie.

Watch Oddity in movie theaters – or on Shudder soon!

Oddity was written & directed by Damian McCarthy. He previously also wrote and directed the horror movie Caveat (2020), which I also enjoyed. He tends to make character-driven horror movies with Irish folklore luring in the plot, and I love it.

DO CHECK OUT

Our review of writer-director Damien McCarthy’s previous movie Caveat here >

For me, Oddity is a more accomplished and complete movie, but in terms of horror, Damien McCarthy nailed it with both movies. Caveat has already been released on Shudder, which was when we reviewed it.

Oddity will also be coming to Shudder, which seems like the perfect setting for it. First, however, it will be coming to movie theaters, so if you get the chance, you should check it out there, where IFC Films is releasing it.

ODDITY premieres in movie theaters on July 19, 2024. It will be on Shudder soon.

Details

Director: Damian McCarthy
Writer: Damian McCarthy
Cast: Gwilym Lee, Carolyn Bracken, Tadhg Murphy, Caroline Menton, Jonathan French, Steve Wall