Oddity (2024)
Directed by: Damian Mc Carthy
Premise: An Irish film. A psychic (Carolyn Bracken) visits the husband of her deceased twin sister. The psychic suspects foul play and brings along a wooden mannequin which has supernatural qualities.
What Works: Oddity has the style and approach of a classic ghost story like the tales of Henry James and Edgar Allan Poe. It gathers the characters in a haunted location and builds very slowly. The supernatural elements emerge organically and expose the characters’ sins and secrets. Dani is a psychic whose sister was murdered a year earlier and Dani believes her former brother-in-law (Gwilym Lee) had a part in her death. Dani imposes herself on the former in-law’s home and her presence provokes a reaction. The tension of this story isn’t so much in the supernatural but in the way Dani forces the truth to the surface. Oddity prioritizes atmosphere over jump scares and this is done quite well. The mannequin is used very effective and the filmmakers get a lot of scary milage from this stationary prop. There is a quiet and unsettling quality to Oddity. The style of the filmmaking along with the tension of the murder mystery creates anticipation.The film builds slowly but once the action starts the pace picks up and the ending manages to be unexpected and unsettling and satisfying in the style of classic ghost stories.
What Doesn’t: Stories are about conflicts and generally speaking the more direct the conflict, the more satisfying the story. Oddity struggles in this respect. Dani doesn’t actually do much in the course of the story. For long stretches of the film she sits quietly while the other characters busy themselves around her. The mystery of her sister’s death is pieced together but not in ways that pit Dani against the other characters. The story requires the audience to fill in some of the action. It’s a different way of approaching storytelling than we typically get from a more mainstream film.
Disc extras: Featurettes.
Bottom Line: Oddity lives up to its title. The narrative does not adhere to the style of contemporary cinematic storytelling but its aberrations are exactly what make it interesting.
Episode: #1019 (October 27, 2024)