Oddity | Review & Score

About: A psychic medium attempts to uncover the truth behind her sister's murder at the site of the crime.

Damian McCarthy's ODDITY is beautifully creepy. It has a ton of Mike Flanagan to it, while also being very different in tone. It's extremely atmospheric and well acted. There was no real marketing for this film, so I can't blame it for kinda going under the radar. Although, I started to it fly onto everyone's radar within the last week.

The performances from Carolyn Bracken and Gwilym Lee are terrific. It's a slick and stylish supernatural thriller with some good psychological pieces cut in. There wasn't much layers to the story or characters, it's pretty straight forward with its tone. It has some cleverness to it as well. They don't give away the Irish landscaping or setting too much, but you can feel it through the atmosphere the film gives off.

I like the cinematography, the build up of dread and the musical score. Everything just fits in so nicely together without very many flaws to it. I thought the final act was a good full circle moment. It doesn't show what you may want to see by the end, but it definitely leaves you with satisfaction in having a good imagination. You'll know when you catch it.

There's no real clever twist to the story, it's pretty straightforward like I mentioned earlier. It's really about how you build up the tension of dread, use the atmospherics to write the story for you. Which is how I feel McCarthy kinda went about this... I could be wrong. But that's how it looked, felt and sensed. It leaves you with a sweet enough taste to walk away going "It was all very necessary."

Very well done from McCarthy and company. I have always admired Irish horror and how it manages to be straightforward, not very twisty but lots of clever pieces to 'em. I think if you love supernatural horror, psychological horror and some tasty little bits of vengeance -- you'll enjoy Oddity and what it has to offer.

4.5/5