Following the death of her twin sister, a psychic spends the night where her sister died to get to the bottom of her death.
Written and directed by Damian Mc Carthy, this film knows how to build tension and fear. Yes, fear. Being that fear is a harder emotion to come by when watching film professionally, the fact that this film has truly scary, fearful moments almost feels like a miracle lately. This one has 2 specific sequences that left chills down the back and imprinted on the brain well until after bedtime. This is somewhat of a miracle, and it needs to be celebrated. Here, the main cause of these jolts of fear moments was the writing and the directing. The decisions made in how these scenes, and the rest of the film as lead up to them, were written and how they brought the screen were perfect. It is not easy to create suspension and tension, much less fear, especially for audiences that have seen it all these days, and filmmaker Damian Mc Carthy does it beautifully well here. Of course, the rest of the story matters too here, and it is developed with calculated pace and happenings, carefully crafted characters, just the right decisions made on the location, lighting, framing, editing, etc. This is one of those films that makes you wonder why it has taken that long for a good scare to happen in recent years. Then it hits you with a second one. And, likely for other viewers, a few more. This being Damian Mc Carthy’s second feature film, following the well-received Caveat, this is a great showing of talent and sense for the creepy.
The cast here is composed of mainly a small group at the center of everything. The woman whose death sets everything in motion and her twin sister, both played by Carolyn Braken who is phenomenal here. Her work is so good, her sheer presence on camera raises the heart rate at times. She takes on the dual part, gives each of them a very specific personalities with quirks and charms. She more than proves she was the right person for the part. Playing the widower, Gwilym Lee comes off unlikable pretty much from the start and he plays his part without holding back, giving that character what he needs to be his worse self. Caroline Menton as Yana is on point and not one most will truly appreciate. These last two play their parts with the negative side there, ready to take on the viewers’ hate. Rounding out the main cast are Johnny French, Steve Hall, and Tadhg Murphy, each giving the right performances in their respective roles.
The film here is set mostly in a house with bits in an oddity shop and some in a mental institution. This helps set the mood and even the pace, keeping things to a minimal number of locations, almost like a stage place at times, making the most of the main house location which has some dark corners that require some investigating. These locations are beautifully shot by Colm Hogan (and his team), making the most of all the angles with dark corners, the second-floor walkway, the old house elements, and the wood crate and its contents. Because whoever created that being that gets involved has a love for fear and pure creep factor. That being is designed just right and what happens with it is the best thing that could have happened to a film recently. It’s creepy, it’s skin-crawling, it’s something that stick with you long after you’ve left the theater.
Oddity is one of the best, if not THE best, scary movie to come out so far this year bar none. It’s built just right, and it does require to be paid attention to. Those who have the interest and love a well-crafted horror film will adore it and its tension. This is the right way of doing a psychic story with an odd being and a great location.
This year the Fantasia International Film Festival ran in Montreal from July 18th to August 4th.